Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg ripped Apple’s $3,500 “Vision Pro” virtual reality headset – and poked fun at the company’s “fanboy” defenders” – in the latest sign of an escalating rivalry between the two tech giants.
Zuckerberg took aim at Apple’s buzzy gadget in a product review after he “finally tried” the pricey competitor. The 39-year-old argued that his company’s Quest 3 VR headset, which costs $499, is “better for the vast majority of things that people use mixed reality for.”
“I have to say that before this, I expected that Quest would be the better value for most people since it’s really good and like seven times less expensive, but after using it, I don’t just think that Quest is the better value, it’s the better product period,” Zuckerberg said.
The Facebook founder boasted that the Quest 3 headset has several advantages compared to the Vision Pro, including a lighter weight, a deeper content library, a wider field of view, and no wires.
Apple’s goggles, he asserted, have an uncomfortable “motion blur” effect and are less useful for gamers.
Zuckerberg acknowledged that the Vision Pro has a “higher resolution” than Meta’s headset, but said he “was surprised by how many tradeoffs they had to make to the quality of the device and the comfort and the ergonomics and other aspects of the display.”
“I know that some fanboys get upset whenever anyone dares to question if Apple’s going to be the leader in a new category,” Zuckerberg added. “But the reality is that every generation of computing has an open and a closed model. And yeah, in mobile, Apple’s closed model won, but it’s not always that way.”
Zuckerberg added to his insult by filming his takedown while using a Quest 3.
The Vision Pro has drawn a mixed reaction since its debut – with famed “Avatar” director James Cameron hailing it as a “religious” experience and an unnamed Silicon Valley investor likening it to “tech fentanyl.”
Some buyers have grumbled that the Vision Pro does not have access to VR porn.
Meta has long dominated the VR headset market, with sales of its Quest 2 and Quest Pro products accounting for nearly 80% of the 8.8 million sold in 2022, according to data from research firm IDC.
In late January, a report said Apple had sold about 200,000 Vision Pros after it began accepting pre-orders on Jan. 19.
Zuckerberg previously criticized the Vision Pro after it was unveiled last June.
“Every demo that they showed was a person sitting on a couch by themself,” Zuckerberg reportedly told employees during an all-hands meeting at the time.
“I mean, that could be the vision of the future of computing, but like, it’s not the one that I want.”
