Qualcomm will soon release a new XR chip that is quicker than the one in Quest 3. Qualcomm intends to introduce a next-generation XR processor in early 2024, which may power high-end headsets from Samsung and LG. Hugo Swart, Qualcomm’s VP of XR, spoke with South Korean news source Electronic Times. Swart said, according to a computer translation of the article:
Qualcomm will soon release a new XR chip that is quicker than the one in Quest 3
“I can’t go into specifics, but we’re working with Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.” LG has extensive knowledge in a variety of sectors. We work in the headset industry, and Samsung has made significant progress since the announcement of its alliance with Qualcomm and Google.”
Qualcomm, Samsung, and Google announced a collaboration earlier this year to develop a mixed-reality headset. According to reports, the effort is in response to Apple’s XR intentions. In June, Apple launched the Apple Vision Pro. The headset will be available in early 2024 for $3,500.
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A high-end mixed reality headset chip
Qualcomm’s latest XR chip is the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2. It was announced at Meta Connect 2023, and the first headgear to use it is Meta Quest 3. The chip is based on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and provides more than double the GPU performance of the previous-generation Meta Quest 2 and Pico 4. However, the M2 chip in the Apple Vision Pro outperforms both the Gen 1 and Gen 2 chips.
Qualcomm’s next XR processor is expected to change that. According to Swart, Qualcomm will launch a next-generation XR chip in the first quarter of 2024. Swart did not disclose any specifics. The chip could be based on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or the far more powerful Snapdragon X designed for laptops, competing with Apple’s M-series chips. Both Snapdragon CPUs were presented at the Snapdragon Summit last week.
If Samsung and LG respond to Apple’s Vision Pro with their own mixed reality headsets, they will almost certainly use Qualcomm’s higher-end XR chip. Meta could be in the same boat: Another South Korean outlet said a few weeks ago that Meta was collaborating with LG on a possible successor to the Quest Pro, which would cost roughly $2,000 and be available in 2025.
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