The Meta Quest Pro didn’t quite capture the prosumer market as intended, which prompted Meta to halt production of this first mixed reality headset just over two years after its launch. Now, according to a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Meta is not only planning to release a Quest 3 as a follow-up for general consumers but is also in the process of developing a new high-end model that might take over from the Quest Pro.
In Gurman’s weekly newsletter, he takes an expansive look at the latest in XR technology, discussing everything from Meta possibly integrating a display in its upcoming Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses to rumors about Apple scaling back Vision Pro production in response to dwindling demand for their $3,500 device.
Based on information from insiders, Gurman has revealed that Meta is working on Quest 4 VR headsets and a high-end model that could one day replace the Quest Pro mixed-reality device.
The Quest Pro, which debuted in late 2022, marked a notable shift from Meta’s previous line of standalone headsets that typically retailed around $300 at the time.
Initially, the ‘Pro’ model was set at $1,500 and included advanced features like color-passthrough, pancake lenses, and both face and eye-tracking. However, less than five months later, Meta slashed the price to $1,000 to entice more prosumers into the fold.
In July 2023, a report from The Information suggested that Meta was putting an end to the Quest Pro line altogether. Meta’s CTO and head of Reality Labs, Andrew Bosworth, quickly refuted this, cautioning people not to “believe everything you read.”
A follow-up report a year later in July 2024 suggested that Meta’s focus was shifting from the ‘Pro’ series to developing a lighter mixed reality device, reportedly codenamed ‘Puffin,’ which is said to look like a thicker pair of glasses and might hit the market in 2027. Meta also aims to launch AR glasses before the end of the decade, which are expected to function similarly to their Orion AR glasses prototype.
The same report later confirmed that a Quest Pro 2 prototype, known internally as ‘La Jolla,’ had been scrapped. Bosworth eventually confirmed the cancellation of La Jolla and noted that the company’s efforts were now directed towards Puffin, though he didn’t elaborate on whether this meant the end of the Quest Pro series.
Meta’s approach to product development involves a lot of testing and sometimes shelving prototypes, as Bosworth previously discussed. This strategy emphasizes the importance of exploration over immediately bringing a product to market. So, it’s anyone’s guess where the Quest Pro 2 and other projects stand in this process—it could be part of an evolving strategy or simply a project abandoned.
While countering earlier claims about the Quest Pro line being scrapped, Bosworth noted, “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.”
