A New Meta Quest In all probability Will not Occur in 2026

When you’re a fan of VR, I in all probability don’t must inform you that zeal for {hardware} appears to be on the downslope. Not solely was there no new Quest headset out of Meta Connect this 12 months—a convention that’s traditionally been dedicated to VR stuff—however rumors counsel subsequent 12 months might be extra of the identical.

In keeping with a report from UploadVR, new Quest headsets have been pushed again till 2027 on the soonest, together with the corporate’s rumored ultra-light headset and the Quest 4, a successor to the Quest 3, which got here out in 2023. In keeping with UploadVR, the Quest 4 could not come out till 2028, which admittedly appears like eons away in gadget years.

Regardless of the delay, memos considered by UploadVR counsel some massive issues within the pipeline for the Quest as soon as each headsets are lastly launched. On the ultra-light aspect of issues, the “Quest Air,” because it’s being tentatively referred to internally, will reportedly be coupled with a compute puck that acts because the headset’s mind. Theoretically, offloading all of the computing might drastically scale back the load, making for a tool that feels much less annoying to put on over lengthy intervals. Whether or not it is going to be highly effective and steady sufficient to really take pleasure in is anybody’s guess, however no less than you may not want to coach your neck muscle mass earlier than you put on it.

The Quest 4, alternatively, is reportedly shaping as much as be a “massive improve” to the Quest 3, in response to memos, and can probably land as extra of a competitor to the Apple Vision Pro than a budget-focused headset just like the Quest 3S. Talking of budgets, UploadVR additionally factors out that headset pricing might drastically change within the subsequent era, with a memo stating that the Quest 4 will “considerably enhance unit economics.” Both which means Meta has in some way discovered a technique to make all of this {hardware} for a decrease price, or it plans on elevating costs to try to squeeze a revenue. Personally, my cash is on the latter, particularly as a result of the memo reportedly states that Meta ought to be extra centered on “making the enterprise sustainable.”

Couple all of this with the truth that Meta could also be on the precipice of drastically reducing its budget for Reality Labs, the division of the corporate that oversees VR/XR {hardware}, and it begins to make extra sense. It appears like a foul signal for the Quest, and that will not be totally inaccurate, however a slowdown does really feel inevitable. Actuality Labs has blown via tens of billions of {dollars} since 2022, which isn’t precisely a traditional tempo for a {hardware} market like VR/XR that also feels very area of interest. I don’t suppose anybody anticipated Meta to maintain that burning a lot money eternally.

Enterprise Insider additionally experiences that Meta has delayed the release of its “Phoenix” pair of XR glasses to “get the small print proper.” Does that imply Meta is souring on AR glasses already? More than likely not, given how closely it pushed into the class of wearables this 12 months by way of the Meta Ray-Ban Display and Oakley-branded smart glasses. I’ll admit, delays throughout the board for brand spanking new Quest {hardware} aren’t encouraging, however I feel the truth that new {hardware} continues to be even within the dialogue is definitely a superb signal. That being mentioned, roadmaps can all the time change. Tune in subsequent time when Meta abandons {hardware} totally for AI slop?