Meta’s CTO reaffirmed that the company is still working on “multiple next-generation headsets”, and perhaps hinted at a reveal at Connect in September
During an “ask me anything” session on his Instagram page, when asked “Did you guys give up on VR?”, here’s how Bosworth responded
“No.We’ve talked about this a lot this year – kind of an odd comment.We’ve just updated the user interface profoundly for the first time in years. We’ve talked openly about the fact that we’re building multiple next-generation headsets.We did get ourselves into more sustainable shape, that’s true. But no. We continue to invest quite a bit there.So, stay tuned for Connect and we’ll have more to share then.”
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Bosworth’s claim that Meta has “talked about this a lot this year” is indeed accurate. During the company’s Q4 2025 earnings call in January, CFO Susan Li told investors that the company still has “optimism in the future of VR”, and confirmed that it’s still “building future headsets” – plural
Shortly after, when asked about VR during an interview, Bosworth himself stated that “I think it’s officially leaked we’ve got two devices on the roadmap that we’re super excited about coming out over the course of a period of time”
Meta CFO Susan Li says the company still has “optimism in the future of VR”, and confirmed that it’s still “building future headsets”.
UploadVRDavid Heaney
The “leak” Bosworth mentioned was clearly the December internal Meta memos that revealed the company is working on a gaming-focused headset set to be a “large upgrade” over Quest 3, but without subsidization, suggesting a notably higher price
That, to be clear, is in addition to the widely reported ultralight mixed reality headset with a tethered compute puck that the memo suggested should launch in the first half of 2027
UploadVR’s understanding is that the more traditional Quest 4 should then arrive in late 2027 at the earliest, though Meta’s plans and schedules constantly shift
Graphics depicting Meta’s upcoming ultralight headset with a tethered compute puck, codenamed Phoenix, have been found in Quest firmware.
UploadVRDavid Heaney
In February, low resolution graphics depicting the ultralight headset were discovered in the Quest firmware, giving us our first real indication of what it should look like
As for the other parts of Bosworth’s response, the profoundly updated user interface refers to the Horizon OS ‘Navigator’ rollout. Meanwhile, the “more sustainable shape” is essentially a corporate euphemism for Meta’s shutdown of three of its acquired VR game studios, significant layoffs at a fourth, cancelation of the Batman: Arkham Shadow sequel, retreat of Horizon Worlds from VR, and deprecation of Horizon Workrooms and Quest headsets for business offering
The new Horizon OS ‘Navigator’ system UI finally rolled out to all Quest headsets, more than a year after Meta began publicly testing it.
UploadVRDavid Heaney
The mention of “more to share” at Meta Connect 2026, set for September 23, is arguably the most interesting part of Bosworth’s response
While all signs point to Meta’s ultralight headset launching in 2027, we’ve long suspected that the company could at least tease it, or perhaps even formally announce it, at Connect 2026. Bosworth’s sentence is the first public sign that this might, perhaps, be the case. Though it’s also possible that he’s just referring to VR software for existing Meta Quest headsets
We’ll find out in September
