Meta is engaged on a Quest Professional successor once more, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman stories, after reportedly canceling two candidates lately.
In his newest report, wherein he additionally stated that Apple remains to be engaged on microLED shows for AR glasses, Gurman writes: “Meta is engaged on Quest 4 VR goggles, in addition to a brand new high-end mannequin that would finally change into a successor to the Quest Professional”.
Meta executives have repeatedly talked about engaged on “the following Quest”, and final 12 months The Info reported that Quest 4 is arriving in 2026 as two fashions, a funds mannequin and a premium mannequin, codenamed Pismo Low and Pismo Excessive.
Meta Confirms Quest Professional 2 Cancelation & 2027 Ultralight Headset
Meta confirmed to The Verge earlier reporting that it canceled a 2027 Quest Professional 2 candidate and is engaged on an ultralight headset with a puck.
That report additionally talked about a brand new Quest Professional arriving in 2027, codenamed La Jolla, which itself had been spun up after the cancelation of the unique Quest Professional 2 undertaking, a headset that was set for 2024 codenamed Funston.
However only one month after that report, The Info reported that La Jolla had been canceled in favor of a distinct 2027 headset, codenamed Puffin, an ultralight design with a tethered compute puck. Then, in October, The Verge’s Alex Heath stated that in a dialogue with Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth, he confirmed these two reported selections and defined Meta’s method to growing new {hardware}, together with citing the “tepid response” to the unique Quest Professional because the reasoning for canceling La Jolla.
How Does Meta Develop & Cancel {Hardware}?
Based on The Verge’s Alex Heath, Bosworth cited the “tepid response” to the unique Quest Professional because the reasoning for canceling La Jolla. However arguably extra apparently, Bosworth detailed the levels of Meta’s {hardware} growth cycle:
- Pre-Discovery: a devoted group is at all times “prototyping the craziest stuff”, making a “proof of expertise” for every thought.
- Discovery: a “small quantity” of Pre-Discovery ideas are authorised by govt evaluate to proceed to the Discovery part, the place “just a few” staff study the practicalities of commercial design and price.
- Prototyping: if deemed sensible, Discovery ideas are prototyped, involving “possibly 10 occasions extra folks”, who construct built-in {hardware} and software program to deliver the idea to life.
- Engineering Validation Take a look at: “roughly half” of these prototypes go to this last stage, the place they’re placed on the product roadmap. Of those EVTs, Meta executives apparently kill “about half” earlier than they ship, whereas the others launch to the general public.
Heath says Bosworth advised him the ultralight headset with a puck, codenamed Puffin, was moved from Pre-Discovery to Discovery. Meaning it may nonetheless be killed off in Prototyping or the EVT part.
The cancelation of La Jolla in favor of Puffin makes Gurman’s new reference to “a brand new high-end mannequin that would finally change into a successor to the Quest Professional” all of the extra complicated. Is Gurman referring to Puffin, or to yet one more new Quest Professional successor undertaking, separate to both La Jolla or Puffin? It is fully unclear, however preserve studying UploadVR as we’ll deliver you information of any future point out of a Quest Professional 2 from dependable sources.
