In a 3 minute and 37 second video filmed with a Meta Quest 3, Mark Zuckerberg reacts for the first time to the release of the Apple Vision Pro. The creator of Facebook says he was “surprised” to have discovered that Apple's product was worse than his.
“I finally tried the Apple Vision Pro”. Even if you don't like Mark Zuckerberg, it's impossible not to respect his approach. Convinced for years that virtual reality is the future of computing, the creator of Facebook took a risk, recording a 3 minute and 37 second video on his competitor's Apple Vision Pro.
Advertisement
He severely attacks the product which could put the VR industry in the spotlight. It is rare to see a boss of this level take part in such an exercise, even if his objective is to fuel the fan war to sell his own Meta Quest 3 headset at 679 euros (compared to $3,499 at Apple).
Mark Zuckerberg's video has only one flaw: it borders on bad faith. The boss of Meta, who is right on several elements, seems incapable of attributing the slightest victory to Apple. “I have to admit that I expected the Quest to be the best value for most people, since it costs seven times less, but after trying the Vision Pro, I don't think the Quest is just better value for money. I think the Quest is a better product, period.”
Mark Zuckerberg only talks about the flaws of the Apple Vision Pro
For Mark Zuckerberg, “Quest is better for a vast majority of users”. Zuck talks in particular about the quality of Apple's mixed reality, which allows you to see the world through cameras (a turn taken by Meta at the time of the rumors about Apple's headset, when he focused solely on reality virtual and the metaverse so far). “The Quest 3 offers a high definition view of the world with large virtual screens, like the Vision Pro”analyzes Zuckerberg.
That's not all. In his testMark Zuckerberg also believes that the Quest 3 would be better than the Vision Pro on other things, like “move around, play games, see friends, socialize and play sports”. Zuckerberg also mentions comfort, since the Quest 3 weighs 100g less than the Vision Pro, without cable. “It’s a big difference on the head.»
Advertisement
For Mark Zuckerberg, the Quest 3 also has a better field of vision and “screens that I find brighter”. The Meta boss quickly dismisses the Vision Pro's 4K Micro-OLED screens, indicating that the quality is better, but with too many compromises on weight to achieve this. In short, nothing seems to be good about the Apple Vision Pro, including its highest quality.
Among the other features forgotten by Zuckerberg, there is Apple's external screen, EyeSight virtual eyes, Optic ID iris recognition, 3D avatars in FaceTime, unlimited windows that can be generated, the catalog of films/series, the power of the product, the automatic configuration of a room or the quality of the speakers, which are nevertheless strong points of the Apple Vision Pro.
There is obviously no word on the ecosystem, which is stronger at Apple than at Meta. Mark Zuckerberg only compares things the Quest can compete on.
The next Meta Quest will bring back eye tracking
“Apple's eye tracking is really good”, recognizes Mark Zuckerberg, just after saying that the Quest's hand tracking was better (spoiler after 10 days of testing: it's false). The boss of Meta takes the opportunity to announce that eye tracking will make its return in the next Quest, after having been experimented with the expensive Quest Pro.
Obviously, Zuck prunes the visionOS catalog, which is missing “immersive content, YouTube and Xbox Game Pass”.
“Many thought the Vision Pro would be better because it's Apple and because it costs $3,000 more, but honestly I'm surprised that the Quest is better at the majority of things that people use these products. » In the following sentence, Mark Zuckerberg attacks his possible detractors, whom he describes as “fanboys”. The fan war is on.
The Quest is an “open” competitor, really?
In the last part of the video, Mark Zuckerberg takes a risk by comparing his Quest platform to Android or Windows, which he presents as “open alternatives” to iOS and macOS. “Each IT generation has its open model and its closed model”analyzes the boss of Facebook. “In this new generation, Meta will be the open model and I want to make sure the open model wins. »
Obviously what he says is false. The Quest's operating system is exclusive to Meta's products, uses a modified version of Android and a closed app store and cannot be called an open model. The real open alternative to Apple and Meta could be from Google, which is actively preparing an Android XR for other players, such as Samsung and Sony. But Mark Zuckerberg doesn't say that.
In short, the boss of Meta is banking on an aggressive strategy to bring down the Apple Vision Pro and recognizes almost no quality in it. A communication which seems successful, given the numerous occasions on social networks… even if the future could make this analysis a laughing stock, in the same way as that of Steve Ballmer in 2007, the former boss of Microsoft. He then made fun of the iPhone which would never work.
By the way, the big absentee from this video is the metaverse, which Mark Zuckerberg has not mentioned once. It's anecdotal, but it's also proof that Meta hasn't always had clear ideas.