Meta’s CTO confirmed to The Verge earlier reporting about two 2027 headsets, one canceled and the opposite being labored on.
The reporting in query got here from The Data again in August. The outlet first reported that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CTO Andrew Bosworth canceled La Jolla, the high-end headset that they had deliberate for 2027 that seemingly would have been a Quest Professional 2. 5 days later, it reported that on the identical assembly this determination was made, they greenlit an ultralight headset with a tethered compute puck for a similar 12 months.
Meta Reportedly Cancels Quest Professional 2
Meta has reportedly canceled the high-end headset it deliberate for 2027 as a result of excessive value of its micro-OLED shows.
Meta Plans Ultralight Headset With Tethered Puck For 2027
Meta reportedly plans a brand new extraordinarily gentle headset with a tethered compute & battery puck for 2027 as an alternative of the canceled Quest Professional 2.
Within the newest version of his e-newsletter, The Verge’s Alex Heath writes that in his dialogue with Bosworth whereas he was at Meta making an attempt the Orion AR glasses prototype, Bosworth confirmed these two reported selections and defined Meta’s method to growing new {hardware}.
In response to 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} improvement cycle:
- Pre-Discovery: a devoted workforce is all the time “prototyping the craziest stuff”, making a “proof of expertise” for every thought.
- Discovery: a “small quantity” of Pre-Discovery ideas are authorised by government evaluation to proceed to the Discovery part, the place “a number of” staff study the practicalities of business design and value.
- Prototyping: if deemed sensible, Discovery ideas are prototyped, involving “perhaps 10 instances extra folks”, who construct built-in {hardware} and software program to deliver the idea to life.
- Engineering Validation Check: “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.
There is no point out of what stage La Jolla was at.
