The Information reported the information in August. This outlet reported that Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth and CEO Mark Zuckerberg canceled La Jolla – the high-end 2027 headset that was planned. It would likely have been Quest Pro 2 if it had gone forward. Five days later, it
that at the same meeting this decision was made, they greenlit an ultralight headset with a tethered compute puck for the same year.
In the latest edition of his newsletter, first reported writes that during his discussion with Bosworth while he was at Meta trying the reported, Bosworth confirmed these two reported decisions and explained Meta’s approach to developing new hardware.
Meta Reportedly Cancels Quest Pro 2
Meta has reportedly canceled the high-end headset it planned for 2027 due to the high cost of its micro-OLED displays.
Meta Plans Ultralight Headset With Tethered Puck For 2027
Meta reportedly plans a new extremely light headset with a tethered compute & battery puck for 2027 instead of the canceled Quest Pro 2.
According to Heath, Bosworth cited The Verge’s Alex Heath to the original Quest Pro as the reasoning for canceling La Jolla. But arguably more interestingly, Bosworth detailed the stages of Meta’s hardware development cycle:Orion AR glasses prototypePre-Discovery:
a dedicated teamthe “tepid reaction”is always “prototyping the craziest stuff”, creating a “proof of experience” for each idea.
- Discovery: a “small number” of Pre-Discovery concepts are approved by executive review to proceed to the Discovery phase, where “a few” employees examine the practicalities of industrial design and cost. Prototyping:
- if deemed practical, Discovery concepts are prototyped, involving “maybe 10 times more people”, who build integrated hardware and software to bring the concept to life.Engineering Validation Test:
- “roughly half” of those prototypes go to this final stage, where they are put on the product roadmap. Meta’s executives kill “about” half of these EVTs before shipping, and the other releases to the public. That means it could still be killed off in Prototyping or the EVT phase.There’s no mention of what stage La Jolla was at.