The Apple Vision Pro offers hardware that its newly formed rivals cannot offer, thanks to the M2 and R1 pairing. However, what companies like Meta can do with its Quest 2 and Quest Pro is improved on the software bit to increase performance, and that is exactly what has been done with the latest update. It is likely that this change was implemented in response to the capabilities of Apple’s latest AR headset.

With the latest update, the Quest 2 and Quest Pro have received a 26 percent performance improvement

With the v55 software, Meta promises some impressive performance gains for the Quest 2 and Quest Pro. While it cannot be confirmed if the company purposely gimped the headsets’ capabilities to push sales of successive models, it is mind-boggling how much of an impact a software update can bring to the table. To summarize, Meta claims that both headsets should see up to a 26 percent performance bump in the CPU department. As for the GPU, the blog post provides the remaining details.

“We promised you a performance upgrade, and now we’re delivering. With v55, we're updating the Quest 2 and Pro GPU and CPU. Both headsets should see an up-to 26% CPU performance increase, while you can expect an up-to 19% GPU speed increase for Quest 2 and 11% GPU speed increase for Quest Pro. As developers take advantage of these changes, look out for smoother gameplay, a more responsive UI, and richer content on both headsets. And we’re enabling Dynamic Resolution Scaling for both Quest 2 and Pro, so games and apps can take advantage of increased pixel density without dropping frames.”

To demonstrate the performance improvements, Meta provided a concept video below, in which The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners can be seen running better on a higher resolution thanks to the improvements. The updates have rolled out for both Quest 2 and Quest Pro, so owners should check for that notification right away. We had already spoken about these performance improvements earlier, including Dynamic Resolution Scaling, so it was just a matter of time before Meta officially rolled out the update.

It is possible that the Apple Vision Pro announcement may have made Meta nervous over the fact that the lack of performance from its own devices could hamper sales, as the M2 and R1 duo is unlike what the competition has seen. When we discussedwhat the R1 SoC could be used for, we learned that it was designed to handle the data stream from the Vision Pro’s 12 cameras, which would ultimately reduce the processing headroom from the M2, allowing it to focus on other tasks.

With the M2 now running at its full potential, our readers already know what the chipset is capable of, even when running in portable 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models, so this software update from Meta could be a sign that it does not want to lose the AR headset race against Apple.

News Source: Meta