Meta Quest Pro Is Here to Improve VR and Empty Your Bank Account

Mark Zuckerberg and Meta have officially unveiled the Meta Quest Pro headset, announcing pricing, availability, and specs. 

The company held its virtual event, Meta Connect, and answered questions regarding the headset formerly called Project Cambria. This is a powerful machine built for advanced users and creators, with a price tag to match. The Meta Quest Pro starts at $1,500, which is nearly four times more expensive than the Quest 2.

The major uptick in price may be worth it for VR power users, as this new headset brings plenty of innovations to the virtual table. The Quest Pro starts with a custom Qualcomm Snapdragon XR chipset that delivers more than twice the power of the Quest 2, with increased thermal dissipation for overclocking and the like.

Visuals are just as important in VR as the chipset, however, and this thing has lenses to spare. The newly-designed pancake lenses fold light over several times to allow for sharper visuals than the Quest 2, with 37 percent more pixels per inch (PPI) and a contrast improved by 75 percent. This tech doesn't beef up the lenses, either, as they're 40 percent thinner than the lenses accompanying the Quest 2. 

The headset includes a suite of high-res cameras that capture four times as many pixels as the Quest 2 with, thankfully, full-color passthrough. These cameras also allow your Meta avatars to show more natural expressions and reactions during social gatherings. 

As for its controllers, they're more balanced, thanks to eliminating the O-ring, with the ability to add a stylus for drawing and writing in VR. Haptic feedback has also been greatly improved here, with "true touch" haptics for advanced effects.

This headset does more than VR, too, as mixed reality (MR) is an important aspect of its design. To that end, the Quest Pro doubles as MR glasses thanks to a removable light-blocking cover. With the cover off, you can easily see your surroundings, and with the cover on, you have access to a more traditional VR experience.

The Meta Quest Pro is officially available for pre-order starting today, with shipments beginning on October 25. The console also ships with a snazzy stand-style charger for both the headset and the controllers.