The real next-gen Oculus Quest is coming out next year, after all

What you need to know

• During the Meta Q3 2022 earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg promised that the "next generation of our consumer Quest headset" will come "later next year."
• Zuckerberg previously promised that the Meta Quest 3 would cost between $300 and $500.
• The Reality Labs division lost $4 billion in the last quarter, though the new Meta Quest Pro could allay some of the losses next quarter.
• Leaks suggest the Quest 3 will have full-color mixed reality passthrough and a chip on par with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but not face or eye tracking. 

The Meta Quest Pro just arrived, but we're already looking ahead to the Meta Quest 3, and so is Mark Zuckerberg. In Meta's Q3 earnings call, the CEO noted the company's expensive AR/VR R&D costs coupled with lower Quest 2 sales — likely due to the headset's $100 price increase — had led to billions of dollars in losses.

Next year, Zuckerberg warned, "Reality Labs expenses will increase meaningfully again in 2023, with the biggest drivers of that being the launch of the next generation of our consumer Quest headset and hiring." 

This headset, the Meta Quest 3, will launch "later next year" according to Meta CFO Dave Wehner. Given Meta announced the Quest Pro in October, "later" implies a similar October 2023 launch for the Quest 3. Although this isn't confirmed, leaker Bradley Lynch has already suggested based on his sources that an October launch is likely. 

In an interview with Stratechery, Zuckerberg previously confirmed that "there will be a Quest 3, and that's in the price range of $300, $400, or $500, that zone." That will make it significantly more affordable than the Quest Pro, which should drive much higher sales next year. 

Although the Quest Pro is a much higher-end product than the Quest 2, it still uses the same chipset as its predecessor. According to Lynch, the Quest 3 will use the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, which will be a redesigned variant of the ultra-powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and could launch with up to 12GB of RAM — the same as the Quest Pro. Despite its lower price, the Quest 3 could actually run more powerful next-gen experiences than the Quest Pro.

Our Meta Quest 3 news round-up has all of the other Quest 3 leaked data you'll want to know. To briefly summarize, the Lynch leak suggests it'll have pancake lenses and improved external cameras for better hand tracking and full-color passthrough; unfortunately, it could also use the same unsupportive nylon strap and LCD displays as the Quest 2, and may not have eye tracking for foveated rendering.