Qualcomm’s new chip could power the next Apple Vision Pro competitor

The latest rumours point to Apple’s Vision Pro headset launching in late January. But what of the rest of us mere mortals who either don’t want an Apple headset, or simply can’t afford its astronomical price? Sure, there are alternatives like the rather excellent Meta Quest 3, but its XR2 Gen 2 processor can’t quite match the mighty M2 silicon in Apple’s upcoming hardware.

• Read more: Everything you need to know about the Apple Vision Pro

Enter the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 2 — a newer, more powerful chipset capable of delivering 4.3K resolution and  90fps per eye, compared to the current gen’s 3K per eye capabilities. Not only that, but it also supports 12 simultaneous camera inputs. This will come in particularly handy for face and body tracking, but it should also, in theory, lead to even crisper passthrough augmented reality and mixed experiences. With around a 15% increase in GPU grunt and 20% more CPU power, it sounds like a very solid upgrade indeed.

The only thing that remains to be seen, is the device that will house it. Qualcomm has stated that it is offering reference designs to help manufacturers implement the new processor in their various hardware solutions. HTC was one named manufacturer, and the company has previously been mentioned as being in partnership with Google and Samsung for a VR and/or AR solution — but we’ve heard nothing on that front for almost a year. Either way, it can only lead to more competition and better VR experiences, so crack on, we say.

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