More cameras and sensors, 4K video and possibilities of fast connections with laptops, tablets and phones. Here's what Qualcomm's news means for Apple Vision Pro competition.

Samsung and Google are expected to unveil an advanced mixed reality headset sometime in the next year that will aim to compete with Apple's Vision Pro. We now know what processor it'll be using: a new version of Qualcomm's XR chips. The Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 2 chip, announced Thursday, will be in Samsung's hardware, as well as a number of other upcoming headsets. Qualcomm's details on the new chip indicate a lot about what Samsung's headset could do, and what a wave of more expensive, pro-focused headsets could be bringing in the next year or two.

Meta's Quest 3, which arrived last fall, was the first headset with Qualcomm's next-gen XR2 Gen 2 chip, which boosted graphics, color passthrough camera quality, external camera support and onboard AI feature possibilities. The step-up XR2 Plus Gen 2 chip, although confusingly named, is aimed at an upcoming line of even more premium headsets that could directly compete with Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro in features and price.

Qualcomm has confirmed some partners making upcoming devices with the new chip besides Samsung: HTC Vive, Immersed (a work software company that's already making its own VR visor), Chinese esports company Play for Dream and an as-yet-unannounced hardware partner that's being revealed at this year's CES show in Las Vegas next week.
4K displays, better passthrough mixed reality

The new chip's biggest advantages are in pushing higher-resolution displays and more simultaneous cameras and trackers, including eye tracking and full-body tracking depending on how manufacturers wanted to design their hardware. Qualcomm promises up to 4.3K pixel resolution per eye using the new chip at a 90Hz refresh rate.

The improved resolution should also mean better passthrough camera quality, according to Said Bakadir, Qualcomm's senior director of product management in charge of VR/AR business. It will support better camera resolutions and display the images in more detail on better displays. Meta's $500 Quest 3 has significantly better cameras than the Quest 2, making for apps that can blend camera footage of the real world with VR to create AR-like experiences that feel like they're in your world. Apple's upcoming $3,500 Vision Pro has better cameras and displays than the Quest 3, but headsets like Samsung's and others could maybe begin to approach Apple's level of mixed-reality quality using Qualcomm's new chips.