Meta’s VR headsets will continue using Qualcomm chips for the foreseeable future

Meta will continue to use Qualcomm’s chips in its Quest line of virtual reality headsets and the two companies are teaming up to build “customized” chipsets, Qualcomm announced at IFA 2022. “We’re working with Qualcomm Technologies on customized virtual reality chipsets — powered by Snapdragon XR platforms and technology — for our future roadmap of Quest products,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the press release.

Meta’s Quest 2 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2, so it’s essentially continuing with the status quo. However, it looks like the two companies will be working closely on developing the next generation of chipsets, with Qualcomm saying that “both companies’ engineering and product teams will deepen technical collaboration to deliver next-generation platforms and core technologies.” 

Early this year, Qualcomm announced that it was teaming up with Microsoft as well on custom chips for AR glasses, with Microsoft promising “lightweight” and energy-efficient wearables. Qualcomm said that it was “working with Microsoft… [to develop] custom AR chips,” so it appears to be working with both rivals on roughly the same thing. 

Meta is more invested in the metaverse, however, essentially staking its fate on the idea of meeting others in VR for business, socializing, …read more