Meta Platforms, the company formerly known as Facebook, has been collaborating with Qualcomm for several years across multiple product generations to power its Oculus virtual reality headsets. This long-running strategic partnership has already yielded successful all-in-one standalone VR devices like the Quest 2. By extending this collaboration further, Meta secures leading-edge custom silicon from Qualcomm together with tight hardware-software integration critical to realizing its ambitious vision for the next era of immersive experiences dubbed the metaverse.
Overview of Meta-Qualcomm Partnership
Meta first tapped Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon mobile platforms to create the initial Oculus Go standalone headset in 2018, followed by the hugely popular Oculus Quest powered by the Snapdragon 835 soon after. Their current generation Quest 2 stands as the premier mainstream VR device on the market, offering high-resolution immersive graphics and room-scale positional tracking at an accessible $299 entry point.
This success is driven in no small part by the custom Snapdragon XR2 chipset co-designed by Qualcomm and Meta engineering teams specifically for VR workloads. For its just-announced high-end Quest Pro headset, Meta has once again turned to Qualcomm for cutting-edge silicon in the form of the Snapdragon XR2+ gen-2 platform.
The continuation of this long-standing strategic partnership gives Meta a competitive advantage in deploying custom-tuned VR hardware for next-generation experiences while allowing the company to devote internal resources mostly towards value-added software innovations across areas like VR apps, user interface, content ecosystems and cloud connectivity.
Qualcomm‘s Expertise as the Driving Force Behind Mobile VR
As the world‘s leading semiconductor vendor for mobile systems, Qualcomm has parlayed its wireless connectivity leadership into developing specialized hardware for the fledgling VR/AR industry. The company‘s flagship Snapdragon mobile application processors already power over 40% of smartphones globally per Counterpoint Research data, cementing Qualcomm as the partner of choice for premium mobile device OEMs.
Building on its Snapdragon pedigree, Qualcomm has introduced multiple generations of XR platforms purpose-built for VR workloads by integrating key capabilities like room-scale 6-degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) spatial tracking, high-resolution graphics rendering and AI acceleration:
| Component | Snapdragon XR2 | Snapdragon XR2+ |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 1x Cortex A77 up to 2.84GHz 3x Cortex A55 up to 1.8GHz |
1x Cortex X1 up to 3.0GHz 3x Cortex A78 up to 2.4GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 650 GPU @ ~670MHz | Adreno 660 GPU @ higher frequencies |
| AI Engine | Hexagon 698 DSP ~7 TOPS AI performance |
Hexagon 770 DSP ~11 TOPS AI performance |
| ISP | Spectra 480 ISP | Spectra 680 ISP |
| Modem | Snapdragon X55 5G modem | Integrated 5G mmWave/sub-6 GHz modem |
With each successive platform generation, Qualcomm has delivered substantial leaps in CPU/GPU performance, camera processing, AI acceleration and XR feature handling. This steady cadence of silicon innovation by Qualcomm allows Meta to incorporate the latest hardware capabilities into its consumer VR roadmap over time.
Next-Generation VR Powered by Cutting-Edge Qualcomm Platforms
The renewed collaboration sees Qualcomm remaining as Meta‘s key strategic partner for developing custom XR silicon solutions optimized to enable transformative VR experiences and metaverse applications. In the near term, this means future premium-tier Meta consumer headsets will leverage Qualcomm‘s incoming Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 and subsequent XR3 platforms to push new boundaries in resolution, visual quality, ergonomics and user interactivity.
According to industry analysts, key areas of XR innovation likely to rollout across next-gen Meta VR products powered by Qualcomm‘s roadmap include:
- Multi-lens camera systems for complex hand and controller tracking: Integrating latest Spectra ISP features like hardware-accelerated computer vision and multi-camera concurrency to enable more lifelike hand rendering and interactions inside VR
- High-res displays with gpu-accelerated foveated rendering: Support for ~4K-per-eye resolution together with eye-tracking driven foveated rendering that concentrates gpu power to sharpen visual focus based on user gaze direction
- Reduced form factors through advanced thermal designs: New vapor chamber cooling solutions allowing for lighter & more compact industrial designs without sacrificing performance
- Integrated 5G connectivity removing wires: Direct 5G modem integration rather than add-on modules to enable wireless VR cloud gaming, streaming and mobility
Ed Barton, Chief Analyst at Omdia, remarks "Qualcomm Technologies‘ industry leadership in 5G connectivity, AI, and advanced heterogeneous computing is essential for Meta to achieve its vision of delivering breakthrough XR consumer products." These sentiments validate Meta‘s strategic choice to continue its long-standing technology collaboration with Qualcomm as the engine powering its ambitious consumer VR roadmap over the coming years.
