Meta Cancels High-End Mixed Reality Headset After Apple Vision Pro Struggles

Meta has canceled work on a high-end mixed reality headset that it was developing to compete with the Apple Vision Pro, reports The Information. Meta this week told employees to quit working on the device following a product review meeting that involved Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The now-canceled device was slated for launch in 2027, and it was meant to be equipped with high-resolution micro OLED displays, which is what Apple used for the Vision Pro. Meta was aiming to sell the device for under $1,000, but that was not going to be possible with the high cost of the displays.

Meta is continuing development on the Quest 4, a successor to the Quest 3, and that headset could come out in 2026. The Quest 3 is priced at $500, which is also the likely target price point for its successor. Meta is also focusing on software rather than hardware, and it announced a Horizon OS platform for third-party hardware makers earlier this year.

When the Vision Pro launched, Meta was hoping that the device would reinvigorate the headset market and validate Zuckerberg's major push into the AR/VR space. Instead, Apple has struggled with consumer appeal, and interest in the Vision Pro has waned over time.

Enthusiasm about the Vision Pro started dying down just a month after it launched, and fewer customers visited Apple retail stores for demonstrations. Apple cut Vision Pro shipments in April, and the company is unlikely to sell even 500,000 of the headsets in 2024. As a result, Apple has stopped work on a second-generation high-cost Vision Pro and is instead focusing on creating a lower-cost model with fewer features and a price closer to high-end iPhones.