What you need to know
- A report states Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CTO Andrew Bosworth have informed employees to stop the Quest Pro 2 project.
- Sources allege that the “high cost” of components and other ambitions likely attributed to the decision.
- Bosworth chimed in on Threads, stating that this isn’t the whole story and that Meta has many prototypes on deck and some don’t make the cut.
Yet again, Meta has reportedly canceled development for the Quest Pro 2 XR headset.
The report stems from The Information, which states that “Meta employees” informed the publication about a canceled “high-end mixed reality” project (via Upload VR). The device in question is codenamed “La Jolla,” which was stated to be the Meta Quest Pro 2. Supposedly, the Reality Labs team working on the project wanted to keep costs low and sell the device for under $1,000.
Sources add that those ambitions were becoming increasingly difficult due to the “high cost of displays.” The headset was supposedly preparing to debut with a micro OLED display, which in itself is already “difficult to produce.” The technology is similar to what Apple provides in its Vision Pro. The report claims that the Reality Labs team ran into cost troubles as the technology required ran high.
Notable Meta members like CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CTO Andrew Bosworth reportedly delivered the news. However, Bosworth states this isn’t the whole story.
Meta’s CTO took to Threads to voice his side, stating, “We have many prototypes in development at all times. But we don’t bring all of them to production.” Bosworth added, “we move forward with some, we pass on others.”
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With that, it’s clear that “La Jolla” was simply one cog in the Quest Pro 2 project machine. This isn’t the first time that a version of the XR headset has been dropped. In March 2023, Bosworth said that a device codenamed “Cardiff,” which was supposed to take on the Quest Pro 2 moniker, got canceled. Instead, the company shifted toward a new adventure: “La Jolla.”
Meta teased at the time that La Jolla would “feature photorealistic avatars” when it launched. Based on what Bosworth said in his recent Threads post, “La Jolla” has likely fallen into the “pass” category as Meta shifts its sights to better align with its goals for an XR headset. Meta has not confirmed that the Pro 2 is gone for good.
The Meta Quest Pro 2 had a similar report surfaced in June, making us feel like we’re in a time loop. LG reportedly backed out of the project for a high-performance XR headset. The company has reallocated its personnel from the XR business to other areas as the former no longer aligns with its internal projections. It’s stated that LG would remain on board with Meta for R&D purposes.
In other news, Meta announced Horizon OS, the next iteration of its Quest OS. Despite the company moving in a very Google-esque way, its debut caused more concern than awe.
