The agreement between Meta and LG is not only limited to the design and manufacture of the screen. The South Korean company will be the protagonist in the fight against Apple Vision Pro.
On June 5, 2023, Apple officially presented the Vision Pro mixed reality glasses. However, they will not be available in Europe at least until the end of 2024. However, the event caught the attention of Mark Zuckerberg, owner of Meta. So much so that, according to the Upload VR portal, he has developed some very ambitious plans with the purpose that his Quest Pro can compete with them.
To this end, Meta revealed a collaboration agreement with LG Display whereby the South Korean company would be in charge of manufacturing the OLED panels that will equip future Quest Pro 2s. What it did not make public is that the two companies will maintain a much more extensive partnership during the design, development and production process of the device. In fact, many other LG subsidiaries will be actively involved.
Meta is reportedly partnering with LG to launch a Quest Pro successor in 2025, priced around $2000.https://t.co/tRXZvFi0vp
— UploadVR (@UploadVR) September 4, 2023
For example, LG Energy will be responsible for manufacturing the Meta Quest Pro 2 batteries, while LG Innotek will handle many other components internally. It is clear that the company’s influence will become much greater within the Meta project. Something Mark Zuckerberg is willing to do if it allows him to stand up to Apple’s new mixed reality viewer.
Other known details
Meta wants the Quest Pro 2 to be available on the market throughout the year 2025 in order to align as much as possible with the launch of the Apple Vision Pro. Their starting price will probably be around $2,000, which is slightly higher than that of their predecessors. In Spain they were originally available for 1,799.99 euros.
This high price may lead Meta to design much more affordable mixed reality glasses for the metaverse. A strategy it already carried out in the past with the presentation of the Meta Quest 3. Its retail value was $499 at first.
In addition, there are rumors that Apple also plans to create a reduced performance version of the Apple Vision Pro to reach a wider audience. Not much is known about their possible technical specifications either. However, some of them can be deduced considering the already known features of the Meta Quest Pro and Apple Vision Pro.
The latter have two micro OLED displays (one for each eye) whose resolution standard exceeds 4K. It is also equipped with 12 cameras, six microphones, five motion sensors and the brand’s latest chip: the Apple M2.
The Meta Quest Pro 2 will be available in early 2025 at the earliest.
Meta is undoubtedly facing a major challenge, especially given the technological gap between the Meta Quest Pro and the Apple Vision Pro. It should not be forgotten that the presentation of the latter came only 9 months after the launch of the mixed reality glasses with which Mark Zuckerberg wanted to definitively bring the metaverse to everyone.