The Meta Quest Pro, which had hoped to make a big splash in the prosumer market, didn’t quite hit the mark. Meta has now decided to phase out its first mixed reality headset just over two years after it hit the shelves. However, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company isn’t sitting still. They’re reportedly working not only on a new Quest 3 for everyday consumers but also on a “high-end” model that could pick up where the Quest Pro left off.
In his well-regarded weekly newsletter, Gurman shared a handful of intriguing tidbits from the XR world. Among the latest buzz is the possibility of Meta adding a display to its next iteration of Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses and some whispers about Apple scaling back production of its pricey $3,500 Vision Pro due to dwindling demand.
Gurman’s insider sources suggest Meta isn’t just gearing up for a Quest 4 VR headset but also contemplating a fresh take on what could become the next-generation successor to the Quest Pro mixed-reality headset.
When the Quest Pro debuted toward the end of 2022, it marked a notable shift from Meta’s usual lineup of standalone headsets, which typically hovered around the $300 range.
Originally priced at a hefty $1,500, the Quest Pro came packed with advanced features not seen in its predecessor, the Quest 2. These included color passthrough, pancake lenses, and both face and eye-tracking capabilities. Yet, in an effort to lure more prosumers, Meta slashed the price of the Quest Pro to $1,000 just five months after its release.
Come July 2023, The Information released a story claiming Meta was pulling the plug on the Quest Pro line altogether. But Meta CTO and Reality Labs head honcho Andrew Bosworth was quick to pour cold water on that report, cautioning, “don’t believe everything you read.”
In another piece from The Information in July 2024, it was suggested that Meta might be shifting its ‘Pro’ strategy towards building a lighter MR device that looks like “a bulky pair of glasses.” Codenamed ‘Puffin,’ this new gadget is rumored to be aiming for a 2027 launch. Furthermore, Meta has expressed ambitions to roll out a pair of AR glasses by 2030, inspired by their Orion AR glasses prototype.
A successive report from The Information shortly thereafter mentioned that a Quest Pro 2 prototype, known internally as ‘La Jolla,’ had also been mothballed. Bosworth later confirmed La Jolla’s cancellation but maintained that development on Puffin was on track, although he didn’t specify whether the Quest Pro line had been retired for good.
Meta’s approach of developing and discarding prototypes, as detailed by Bosworth, highlights the company’s focus on exploration over immediate commercialization. It’s a strategy that introduces some uncertainty, leaving it hard to gauge whether these stops and starts are just part of the journey or final destinations.
In response to rumors about the Quest Pro line’s discontinuation, Bosworth mentioned, “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.”
