Meta has canceled its plans for a long-rumored mixed-reality headset that was meant to compete with the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional, according to reporting by The Information. The corporate informed staff at Actuality Labs to cease engaged on the system after a product overview assembly attended by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, as cited by Meta staffers.
The headset was internally known as La Jolla and was reportedly imagined to launch in 2027. This mixed-reality system was allegedly heads and shoulders above the Quest 3, with ultra-crisp micro OLED shows. This is identical show expertise used in the Apple Vision Pro.
Reporting signifies {that a} main sticking level was price. The crew wished to get the system below $1,000, however these micro OLED panels don’t come low cost. The Imaginative and prescient Professional, in any case, is $3,500.
One other seemingly cause the premium system acquired canned is that, effectively, there won’t be that a lot starvation for costly headsets. The Imaginative and prescient Professional’s sales have been sluggish and Meta’s personal pre-existing high-end headset, the Quest Professional, was broadly ridiculed for coming in with a $1,500 price tag.
It’s vital to notice that this doesn’t imply Meta is abandoning VR and MR gadgets. It’s simply placing the kibosh on one costly, high-end headset. There are many rumors on the market that a Quest 4 is coming, alongside a extra budget-friendly model of the Quest 3. Meta can be reportedly prepping some new AR glasses that may seemingly be proven off on the subsequent Connect event on September 25.
The CTO of Meta, Andrew Bosworth, echoed the above sentiment. He wrote on Threads that the corporate has “many prototypes in improvement always” and that “choices like this occur on a regular basis.”
The corporate is, nevertheless, shifting its technique just a little bit. Past canceling the aforementioned headset, Meta’s been making an attempt to license its XR software program to third-party {hardware} makers. The platform, which is named Horizon OS, could be licensed to Indian tech big Jio as an opening move in this gambit. A cope with LG, nevertheless, fell through.
It’s all the time doable that the corporate will revive the idea of a high-end headset sooner or later, as soon as the area will get extra client traction. Within the meantime, the Quest 4 will reportedly hit retailer cabinets in 2026.
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