The next Meta Quest could reportedly cost less than $200
Next year, the Meta Quest 3 could be followed by an aggressively priced headset, according to a South Korean publication.
In a few weeks, Meta Quest 3 will launch with a brand new chip that doubles the performance of Quest 2, a higher resolution display, pancake lenses, and an advanced mixed reality sensor architecture. The technical upgrade comes at a price: The device will start at $499. The Quest 2 will remain in stores and will continue to be sold at a lower price, starting at $299.
According to a hardware roadmap leaked by The Verge back in March, Meta is planning to release another Quest headset codenamed Ventura in 2024, which, like Quest 2, will be a low-cost model. The leak didn't reveal anything about the specifications of the device, but it's likely to be a heavily downgraded Quest 3 that will replace Quest 2 on the market.
The next Meta Quest could be as cheap as it gets
A South Korean publication now reports, citing several industry sources, that Meta wants to launch a device next year that could cost less than $200. That would be an extremely aggressive price point, only comparable to Meta's Oculus Go from 2018.
If the target price is right, the question is what technical compromises Meta will make. Unfortunately, the report does not go into details about the specifications. It is likely that the pancake lenses or the mixed reality sensor architecture of the Quest 3 will be omitted. It is less likely that Meta will choose an older and weaker chip than that of the Quest 3, as this would unnecessarily fragment the future hardware generation.
Meta and LG reportedly working on new Pro headset
The blog also reports that a high-end headset called the Meta Quest 4 Pro, developed in partnership with LG Electronics, is planned for 2025, with a target price of $2,000.
The headset is likely to be the successor of the Meta Quest Pro. According to the aforementioned leaked hardware roadmap, Meta was planning a successor to the Quest Pro after 2024, codenamed La Jolla, which could bring a higher resolution for work use and support photorealistic codec avatars.
In July, The Information reported that work on a second-generation Quest Pro had stopped. More likely, it was just one of many prototypes Meta was considering for a successor to the Quest Pro. Keep in mind that the Apple Vision Pro has been introduced since the roadmap leaked, and product roadmaps are subject to change.
We can expect Meta to continue working on a high-end headset, not least as an answer to Apple's Vision Pro and the mixed reality headset that Samsung and Google are working on.
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