Meta’s canceled Quest Pro 2 could pave the way for a major VR headset redesign in 2027 — and I’m all for it
Meta has reportedly ditched plans to launch a Meta Quest Pro 2 in 2027, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be serving up some mixed reality goodness that year. According to a new report, we could be seeing a pair of lightweight mixed reality goggles instead – codenamed “Puffin” – and if the leaks are true, Puffin sounds like a fantastic alternative to the cancelled headset.
Again via The information (behind a paywall) – which also shared details about the cancellation of ‘La Jolla’ (the VR headset project will likely be the Quest Pro 2) – Puffin is described as a 110g device that looks like an opaque pair of glasses and offers VR and MR experiences using pancake lenses and passthrough cameras.
To reduce the weight so drastically – for context, the Meta Quest 3 weighs 515 grams – Meta is reportedly moving the battery and most of the computing hardware to a puck that’s attached to the headset via a wire, and which Meta “hopes” will fit in someone’s pocket. Additionally, Puffin won’t be offering any controllers in the box, as it’s reportedly relying solely on hand tracking – with The Information adding that it’s possibly using a version of the Vision Pro’s gaze-and-pinch control scheme, suggesting Puffin will feature eye tracking.
This would be a stark departure from anything Meta has launched before, but given that Puffin is apparently focused on viewing media and using it for productivity – much like the Apple Vision Pro – I wouldn’t be surprised to see this device launch with the Meta Quest Pro rather than an entirely new moniker, calling it the ‘Pro’, making it a direct competitor to Apple’s device.
I think the Vision Pro’s tethered battery was a smart idea to save weight, and moving even more of the headset’s hardware onto an external puck seems like a logical evolution to save even more weight. We’ve seen something similar with some of the best AR smart glasses (like the Xreal Air 2) that work by being tethered to a phone or device like the Xreal Beam Pro.
The idea makes extra sense if the headset is intended for more static entertainment and/or productivity tasks. Wearing a 110g headset for an entire two-hour movie (or longer) or for an entire workday would be a much easier task than with a headset weighing over 500g. I should know that I tried the Meta Quest Pro for a whole week, over a year ago, and I didn’t like the pain in my neck it caused.
The only detail we’re still waiting on is pricing, but given that La Jolla was apparently cancelled because Meta couldn’t keep it below the original price of the Meta Quets Pro ($999.99 / £999.99 / AU$1,729.99), I’m guessing Meta is aiming for a similar goal with Puffin. As with all rumours, though, we’d better take these details with a grain of salt. Given the recent reports of Meta’s La Jolla project being cancelled, there’s a chance that even if Puffin does get the greenlight, it’ll suffer the same fate sometime between now and late 2027.
But I really hope Puffin sees the light of day. This bold redesign is exactly what I wanted to see from a Meta Quest Pro 2, and if it does launch with that name, it sounds like Puffin could seriously deliver on the promise of the original.