Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 will reportedly use Qualcomm XR1 and cost less

It’s no secret that Microsoft’s first-generation HoloLens hasn’t exactly been flying off shelves: The company acknowledged in 2015 that the $3,000 AR headset was on a multi-year journey to becoming a consumer product, and improved versions have reportedly been in the works for some time. Today, a report from Engadget suggests that Microsoft will use Qualcomm’s affordable new Snapdragon XR1 platform for HoloLens 2, a decision that could radically improve the headset’s appeal to mainstream users.

By design, the XR1 platform is a less expensive and somewhat scaled-down alternative to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845, custom-designed to support the less sophisticated head-tracking and processing demands of standalone mixed reality headsets. But it retains the ability to work with high-resolution displays, deliver fast augmented reality response times, and perform 3D audio.