iFixit’s Meta Quest 3S teardown reveals a Quest 2 ‘hiding inside’

What if I informed you the Meta Quest 3S is in some methods only a extra highly effective Quest 2 with shade passthrough? “Sure, in fact it’s,” somebody who’s learn our protection would possibly say, however iFixit exhibits simply how true that’s within the teardown video it revealed right now.

The primary trace of that’s the headset’s Fresnel lenses, which iFixit’s Shahram Mokhtari writes in a weblog submit are “100% suitable” with these utilized by the Quest 2. The headset has the older headset’s IPD adjustment mechanism, as effectively; and it shares the identical single LCD panel, somewhat than utilizing one panel per eye, just like the Meta Quest 3.

Legacy components apart, iFixit discovered that the 3S makes use of two IR sensors for depth mapping as an alternative of a single depth sensor. That “uncommon iterative enchancment over the Quest 3” carried out “exceptionally effectively in unlit areas,” Mokhtari writes within the weblog. And naturally, it makes use of the identical Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 SoC because the Quest 3, and works with Meta’s newer Contact Plus controllers, that are offered individually.

As iFixit notes, none of this must be thought of a nasty factor. The adjustments make the headset cheaper — the Quest 3S prices $299.99, whereas the Quest 3 is $499.99. It additionally implies that if these reused components break, it’s not onerous to search out replacements for them, because the Quest 2 has already been round for 4 years.