The Apple Vision Pro is a heck of a machine, but its price is too high for most people to justify. Fortunately, the Meta Quest 3 is due for a software update that promises to improve its Mixed Reality capabilities.

Clearly, the price difference means that there are many things that the Apple Vision Pro can do that the Meta Quest 3 cannot. However, this new v64 update should make the headset's pass-through capabilities better than before; maybe not as good as the Apple Vision Pro, but still better than what Quest 3 owners were dealing with before.

According to the release notes, the pass-through feature is set to benefit from increased resolution and improved image quality. These are not things one would normally expect to be improved by a software update, but Meta claims that this is exactly what happened.

Apparently the company has "improved the perceived resolution of the pass-through by optimizing the pass-through pipeline. This should make it easier to see finer details and smaller text in pass-through mode, and the release notes cite a smartphone screen as an example.

As for image quality, Meta states that they have "fine-tuned the camera processing pipeline to improve color, exposure, contrast, and dynamic range in pass-through. This is said to make color pass-throughs more realistic, which can only benefit the user's experience; Meta also promises to reduce the amount of grain and image noise in low light, ensuring "a more pleasant pass-through experience under a variety of lighting conditions."

Other changes coming to Quest 3 as part of the v64 update include the ability to use the headset while lying down, the option to connect to an external microphone, and the ability to continue a casting session after the headset is removed. Thus, removing the headset to answer the door or have a drink will not interrupt the stream.

Those who play Horizon Worlds with friends can also join friends directly from the People app. However, only if the friend is online, in a public world, and has location sharing turned on.

Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3 still have significant differences regardless of this update. However, this update shows that Quest 3 will get better over time. While it will never reach the technological heights of Apple, it is still one-seventh the price and may be on sale again as Black Friday approaches.