Whether you know it as the Meta Quest 2 or Oculus Quest 2, this VR headset has just been granted a sizable upgrade in both processing and graphical prowess by the Metaverse molders at Meta.
June has been a big month for AR/VR headset enthusiasts, with Apple announcing its first mixed reality headset in the Vision Pro headset and Mark Zuckerberg announcing the latest generation of the former-Facebook group’s massively popular headsets — the Meta Quest 3.
The announcement of the Quest 3 would herald to some that the Quest 2 was now a legacy device in the eyes of its creators, left to dwell in the shadow of its usurper and feed off the table scraps of hand-me-down owners and thrifty late-adopters.
However, alongside the announcement of its new hardware, Meta also revealed that the Quest 2 would be receiving a near-future update to boost performance and keep the hardware relevant for longer.
Untapped potential
Welcome to the near future! Today, Meta Quest owners are in the midst of receiving the v55 update that, as promised, brings with it an increase in CPU performance of up to 25 percent and a lofty 19 percent increase in GPU speed. The Quest Pro will also see a similar boost in CPU performance alongside a GPU rise of 11 percent.
Meta has also enabled Dynamic Resolution Scaling (DRS) for both the Quest 2 and Quest Pro, allowing games to adjust resolutions on the fly to maintain a smoother framerate during more graphically intensive moments.
The results of these changes will be an overall smoother experience both in-game and while using the Quest’s UI and richer content for both Quest headsets.
These performance upgrades were made possible by Meta relaxing the throttling imposed on its CPU and GPU. Previously, Meta’s headsets ran lower than their maximum performance would allow — usually done in an effort to reduce heat buildup.
However, Meta seems confident that unlocking some of this untapped potential won’t hamper the experience at large and has given the green light for users to enjoy a considerable jump in performance as a result.
Outlook
Not only is this performance patch great news for Quest 2 and Quest Pro owners, but there’s also an improvement to the Pro’s eye-tracking, Multi-Touch support for the Quest Browser, a new and improves Explore, and a standalone Messenger VR app.
As updates go, this is one of the best to hit the Quest in a while now — promising a massive leap in performance and smoother, richer experiences all around. The update is currently rolling out to all Meta Quest headsets, so be sure to dust yours off and get things up to speed, and make use of your updated and upgraded headset once more.
