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

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

The primary trace of that’s the headset’s Fresnel lenses, which iFixit’s Shahram Mokhtari writes in a weblog put up are “100% appropriate” with these utilized by the Quest 2. The headset has the older headset’s IPD adjustment mechanism, as nicely; 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 nicely 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 bought individually.

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