Something to look forward to: Photographs and official renders of the Oculus Quest's successor have leaked online. The images depict a device that is noticeably smaller, and seemingly more comfortable, too. It's also a bit more stylish - is Oculus trying to break out of the early adopter market and go mainstream?
The Oculus Quest is the company's trojan horse. It was first marketed as a standalone headset, the first at the $400 price point to dodge the need to be plugged into a PC to function. A little while after the device was released, though, Oculus added the option to plug it into a PC to run it like a Rift as well. That, and the innovative hand-tracking, made it a versatile device. Oculus calls it the "all-in-one" headset now.
The new device isn't entirely unexpected: there have been several unofficial reports, and it makes sense for Oculus to update the device with a focus on the features it found unexpected success with on the original Quest.
New leaks on the Oculus quest 2 from r/OculusQuest
Bloomberg reported in May that the device is a refinement, not an update. Its dimensions and weight are to be reduced by 10-15% to make it more comfortable. The screen's refresh rate could also be increased to 90 Hz or 120 Hz, up from the 72 Hz it runs at now. However, given that the internal hardware isn't expected to change drastically, it could struggle to run some games at such high framerates.
Bloomberg's anonymous sources said that the device was scheduled to release this holiday season but was pushed back to next year because of the coronavirus. A more recent report by the Nikkei Asian Review suggested that the device may be going into mass production soon.
Via WalkingCat.
It's curious that the new device is white, not black. Oculus' only previous white device was the Oculus Go, a $200 standalone device they ended up sacrificing for the Quest.