{"id":438072,"date":"2025-12-10T15:08:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T15:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/438072\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T15:08:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T15:08:14","slug":"meta-delays-puck-tethered-xr-headset-to-2027-next-quest-large-upgrade-to-current-gen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/438072\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta Delays Puck-Tethered XR Headset to 2027, Next Quest “Large Upgrade” to Current Gen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meta may be pushing back the release of an upcoming XR headset that tethers to a pocketable compute puck. Meanwhile, the company says its next-gen Quest will be a \u201clarge upgrade\u201d over the current generation.<\/p>\n

The News<\/p>\n

Meta supposedly planned to release the device, codenamed \u2018Phoenix\u2019, in the second half of 2026, which is said to include a goggle-like form factor\u2014also slated to offload compute and battery to a puck-like unit tethered to the headset.<\/p>\n

Now, according to internal memos obtained by Business Insider<\/a>,\u00a0the release timeline of Phoenix has been pushed back to the first half of 2027.<\/p>\n

Maher Saba, VP of Reality Labs Foundation, announced the change in an internal memo released December 4th, further noting that the decision arose from a meeting with Reality Labs leaders and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Successive XR prototypes | Image courtesy Meta<\/p>\n

Saba maintained that the project should be \u201cfocused on making the business sustainable and taking extra time to deliver our experiences with higher quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on that, many teams in RL will need to adjust their plans and timelines,\u201d Saba added. \u201cExtending timelines is not an opportunity for us to add more features or take on additional work.\u201d<\/p>\n

A\u00a0separate memo from metaverse leaders Gabriel Aul and Ryan Cairns added that the release date was pushed back in order to \u201cgive us a lot more breathing room to get the details right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuing: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot coming in hot with tight bring-up schedules and big changes to our core UX, and we won\u2019t compromise on landing a fully polished and reliable experience,\u201d the memo said.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Aul and Cairns\u2019 memo maintained the company is currently working on its next-gen Quest, which is said to focus on immersive gaming. It\u2019s also said to represent a \u201clarge upgrade\u201d in capabilities from current devices, and will \u201csignificantly improve unit economics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meta is reportedly also planning to release what Business Insider\u00a0maintains will be a new \u201climited edition\u201d XR device in 2026, codenamed \u2018Malibu 2\u2019. It\u2019s uncertain what sort of device Malibu 2 is at this time.<\/p>\n

My Take<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to say what\u00a0the next Quest will shape up to be. Meta tends to run competing prototypes to see what fits best in the market, and may have a different strategy than anyone expects.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my current hunch: Quest 3S represents the company\u2019s best chance to reach the low end of the market at $300 (cheaper on sale), and it may be in that position for at least another year. I don\u2019t expect a cheap and cheerful headset from Meta for a while, even with the claim that the next Quest will \u201csignificantly improve unit economics.\u201d Relative to what? Quest 3S? A potential Quest Pro 2? We simply don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Meta\u2019s next real\u00a0headset (not the limited edition thing) may likely be a high-end headset\u2014think around $800 or $1,000 range\u2014which ought to keep some hardcore Quest platform adherents on the upgrade pathway while possibly offering competition some new(ish) faces: namely Samsung Galaxy XR, Valve\u2019s Steam Frame, and the current Apple Vision Pro M5 refresh. Okay, that\u2019s less of a hunch, and more of a consensus from what everyone\u2019s heard.<\/p>\n

What is marginally more certain though is Meta doesn\u2019t seem to be in the manufacturing stage just yet of anything,\u00a0at least not according to the most recent supply chain leaks, or lack thereof, so I\u2019d expect for a lot more hubbub midway through next year. Whatever the case, I\u2019ve got my eye out for all of the above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meta may be pushing back the release of an upcoming XR headset that tethers to a pocketable compute…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":438073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[158,67,132,68,729,730],"class_list":{"0":"post-438072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-virtual-reality","8":"tag-technology","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us","12":"tag-virtual-reality","13":"tag-vr"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115695905478393904","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}