Meta Reportedly Cancels Plans for High-End Mixed-Reality Headset

A Meta Reality Labs project to create a premium headset to compete with Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro has been canceled, according to a report from The Information. The publication reports that the project was codenamed La Jolla and that the product would have ultimately launched in 2027 with similar micro-OLED display technology to what Apple uses in its Vision Pro headsets. 

When asked for comment, a  representative for Meta referenced a Threads post in which the company noted that not all projects come to fruition.

“We have many prototypes in development at all times,” the post reads in part. “But we don’t bring all of them to production. We move forward with some, we pass on others. Decisions like this happen all the time, and stories based on chatter about one individual decision will never give the real picture.”

A product-review meeting that included Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg supposedly led the company to axe the product. Meta reportedly canceled production of the headset as well as plans for a follow-up to its $999 Quest Pro product amid weak sales, though it continues to sell its less expensive Quest 2 and Quest 3 virtual-reality products at $200-$500.

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The company has been spending billions of dollars on VR and augmented-reality tech since it purchased Oculus Labs in 2014 and has been bullish on the tech ever since. That large-scale spending may be slowing down as even Apple has struggled to capture a large audience for its pricey headset product, falling below projections.