Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg ripped Apple’s $3,500 “Vision Pro” virtual reality headset – and poked enjoyable on the firm’s “fanboy” defenders” – within the newest signal of an escalating rivalry between the 2 tech giants.
Zuckerberg took goal at Apple’s buzzy gadget in a product evaluate after he “lastly tried” the dear competitor. The 39-year-old argued that his firm’s Quest 3 VR headset, which costs $499, is “higher for the overwhelming majority of issues that individuals use combined actuality for.”
“I’ve to say that earlier than this, I anticipated that Quest could be the higher worth for most individuals because it’s actually good and like seven occasions inexpensive, however after utilizing it, I don’t simply suppose that Quest is the higher worth, it’s the higher product interval,” Zuckerberg mentioned.
The Fb founder boasted that the Quest 3 headset has a number of benefits in comparison with the Imaginative and prescient Professional, together with a lighter weight, a deeper content material library, a wider discipline of view, and no wires.
Apple’s goggles, he asserted, have an uncomfortable “movement blur” impact and is much less helpful for players.
Zuckerberg acknowledged that the Imaginative and prescient Professional has a “increased decision” than Meta’s headset, however mentioned he “was shocked by what number of tradeoffs they needed to make to the standard of the machine and the consolation and the ergonomics and different facets of the show.”
“I do know that some fanboys get upset at any time when anybody dares to query if Apple’s going to be the chief in a brand new class,” Zuckerberg added. “However the actuality is that each technology of computing has an open and a closed mannequin. And yeah, in cell, Apple’s closed mannequin received, nevertheless it’s not at all times that means.”
Zuckerberg added to his insult by filming his takedown whereas utilizing a Quest 3.
The Imaginative and prescient Professional has drawn a mixed reaction since its debut – with famed “Avatar” director James Cameron hailing it as a “non secular” expertise and an unnamed Silicon Valley investor likening it to “tech fentanyl.”
Some patrons have grumbled that the Imaginative and prescient Professional does not have access to VR porn.
Meta has lengthy dominated the VR headset market, with gross sales of its Quest 2 and Quest Professional merchandise accounting for almost 80% of the 8.8 million bought in 2022, in response to knowledge from analysis agency IDC.
In late January, a report mentioned Apple had sold about 200,000 Vision Pros after it started accepting pre-orders on Jan. 19.
Zuckerberg previously criticized the Vision Pro after it was unveiled final June.
“Each demo that they confirmed was an individual sitting on a sofa by themself,” Zuckerberg reportedly advised staff throughout an all-hands assembly on the time.
“I imply, that might be the imaginative and prescient of the way forward for computing, however like, it’s not the one which I would like.”
