The latest Meta Quest 3 update once again improves mixed reality passthrough and brings more iPhone-exclusive features
Another month, another Meta Quest 3 headset update. V64 may have only landed 21 days ago (check the comments), but we’ve gotten another upgrade thanks to Horizon OS version v65.
Following the déjà vu, v65 brings another upgrade to passthrough, which was only just upgraded in v64, improving both exposure and dynamic range, and an upgrade that makes it easier to see your real furniture while you in VR and MR.
Now Meta finally gives players the option to stay immersed in mixed reality throughout their entire Quest 3 experience.
Previously, if you were stuck in the lock screen, power off screen, and a few other important menus, you were stuck in a gray VR void. When you use MR Home, you are instead surrounded by your real world, just as you would with any other mixed reality experience.
Sure, it’s not the most notable upgrade, but given Meta’s monthly release schedule, we’re not going to complain if some updates are simply quality-of-life improvements rather than earth-shattering changes.
Some iPhone-exclusive upgrades
In addition to better throughput, Meta has also introduced a number of features specifically for iPhone users – perhaps in an effort to further convince Apple fans that they don’t need to pay for an Apple Vision Pro, or wait for the now apparently delayed, cheaper successor.
The first feature change concerns spatial video. Playback arrived in February via update v62, and if you had an iPhone 15 Pro you could upload your stereoscopic videos directly from your phone to your headset using the Meta Quest mobile app.
Now you can upload your videos via any iPhone running iOS 17 or later – although spatial video capture is still an exclusive iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max feature (unless the iPhone 16 refresh moves this to later this year). brings more affordable models).
Meta also adds better support for still panoramic images. In addition to videos, you can now upload your panoramic photos from your iPhone to your Quest headset via the mobile app.
So instead of simply viewing your recording on a flat screen, you can re-immerse yourself in the location where you shot it. This must also be uploaded via an iPhone with iOS 17 or later.
There’s no word yet on when or if these features will come to Android devices, but we expect they will, especially if new Android devices start introducing camera settings that can record spatial videos.
With a Samsung XR headset – which Google is helping to make – on the way, we wouldn’t be surprised if this phone camera happened. But we’ll have to wait and see what Android phone makers will announce in the coming weeks.