Meta Quest Pro didn’t exactly hit the mark as a prosumer favorite, prompting Meta to phase out its first mixed reality headset a little more than two years post-launch. Nowadays, Mark Gurman from Bloomberg is sharing some intriguing insights about Meta’s future plans. The company is not only reportedly working on the forthcoming Quest 3 for consumers but also on a new “high-end” model, which might succeed the Quest Pro.
In one of Gurman’s recent newsletters, he provides a thorough recap of various developments in the extended reality (XR) sphere. This includes speculation that Meta could incorporate a display in its upcoming Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses and mentions reports about Apple slowing down production of its Vision Pro due to reduced demand for the pricey $3,500 headset.
According to insider information, Gurman reveals that Meta is actively developing Quest 4 VR goggles. They’re also working on a high-end version that could potentially become the next chapter for the Quest Pro mixed-reality headset.
Quest Pro arrived on the scene in late 2022 and marked quite a shift from Meta’s usual lineup of standalone headsets, which typically hovered around the $300 price point.
When it launched, the Quest Pro was priced at $1,500 and came packed with advanced features like color-passthrough, sophisticated pancake lenses, and both face and eye-tracking capabilities. However, in an effort to reel in more prosumers, Meta slashed the price to $1,000 just under five months later.
In July 2023, a report from The Information suggested that Meta was entirely scrapping the Quest Pro line. However, Meta’s CTO and Reality Labs chief, Andrew Bosworth, quickly refuted this claim, urging people to be skeptical of everything they read.
Later on, a July 2024 article from The Information intimated that Meta had redirected its efforts toward developing a more streamlined mixed reality gadget, something akin to a hefty pair of glasses, with the codename ‘Puffin.’ Expectations are set for a 2027 launch. This comes alongside Meta’s ambition to roll out a pair of AR glasses before 2030, akin functionality-wise to their Orion AR prototype.
A subsequent report from The Information expanded on this, claiming that a Quest Pro 2 prototype, codenamed ‘La Jolla,’ had been shelved. Bosworth later confirmed the cancellation of La Jolla, affirming that Puffin was indeed in development. However, he didn’t clarify if the Quest Pro line was permanently discontinued.
Meta’s method of product development often sees prototypes being created and abandoned, a strategy Bosworth previously described as a way to prioritize exploration over immediate marketability. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where projects like Quest Pro 2 currently stand in this ongoing process, making it challenging to discern whether these reported pauses and resumptions are mere pivotal moments or absolute conclusions.
While addressing the rumor about the Quest Pro line’s cancellation, Bosworth added a touch of mystery, stating, “there might be a Quest Pro 2, there might not be. I’m not really telling you, but I will say don’t believe everything you read about what’s been stopped or started.”
