One month of testing: Apple Vision Pro versus Meta Quest 3

I tested the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3 for a month – here’s what happened.

As a regular user of the Meta Quest 3I was curious to discover the experience offered by the Apple Vision Pro, particularly in terms of entertainment, gaming and productivity. Why spend almost €3000 more? To answer this question, I conducted a detailed comparative experiment.

First impressions of the Apple Vision Pro

The Apple Vision Pro requires optical inserts to function and therefore cannot technically not be used with glasses. The additional cost of these official Zeiss inserts is over €150, about half the price of the new Meta Quest 3S. Once these constraints were overcome, using the Vision Pro proved intuitive. Despite its narrower field of view (90 vs. 106 degrees on Meta Quest 3), the absence of traditional controllers was not the drag that some had predicted.

Entertainment experience

One of the Vision Pro’s strong points is its compatibility with some of the best streaming services, including Apple TV, Disney+, Max and Crunchyroll. The Quest 3, on the other hand, is more limited. It’s difficult to watch your favorite content on the Quest 3, limited to the poorly developed Prime Video and YouTube apps. In comparison, the Vision Pro offers significantly higher video quality and allows you to modify the environment you are in, providing a viewing experience equivalent to a 150-inch screen.

What about video games?

In terms of gaming, the Vision Pro offers superior graphics quality with less pixelation and anti-aliasing, but lacks physical controls. Despite lower graphics quality, the Quest 3 offers a more immersive and entertaining experience for motion-based games.

Impressive productivity

When it comes to productivity, the Vision Pro connects almost perfectly to my MacBook. Although the Quest 3, with the Immersed app, comes close to this performance, the Vision Pro offers a smoother experience, feeling like an extension of my MacBook. Additionally, the Apple ecosystem allows seamless integration with iMessages, Photos, AirPlay and AirDrop, providing instant access to all my content.

Ultimately, while the Vision Pro offers an impressive experience, its added cost is hard to justify against the Quest 3. After a few weeks of use, the magic of the Vision Pro wore off and I stuck with my Quest 3.