We’re six months into 2024 and in the first half of the year we’ve been treated to a whirlwind of tech goodness in augmented and virtual reality.
The star of the show was the launch of the Apple Vision Pro, but we also saw Meta open up its Horizon OS to its former VR rivals, and Xreal launch new glasses and a spatial computing accessory that finally feel like the AR future that we have been promised.
The year is far from over, though, with hardware announcements expected in the coming months from Meta and (if we’re lucky) Samsung – so let’s dive into the year so far in AR/VR, and take a look at what we could see in the second half of 2024.
AR/VR in 2024: What have been the biggest announcements so far this year?
We can’t talk about AR and VR tech in 2024 without talking about the Apple Vision Pro, perhaps the most anticipated XR product launch ever. Unfortunately for Apple, the headset made a huge splash when it launched back in February, with our Apple Vision Pro review awarding it four and a half stars , but the hype has since died down and the upcoming global launch on July 12 for Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the UK doesn’t seem to have generated huge interest in the $3,499 / £3,499 / AU$5,999 device.
But the VR space got a major shake-up this year, even if it wasn’t from Apple. That’s because Meta announced that its Horizon OS would be coming to third-party headsets – starting with devices from ASUS, Lenovo and Xbox. This is super exciting because the Horizon OS is the best standalone VR platform thanks to its intuitive user interface, huge software library and regular updates.
Horizon OS coming from third parties should mean the launch of a wider range of headset designs – aimed at specific niches like gaming, productivity, exercise, and more – that aren’t hampered by mediocre operating systems; which has been the case for headsets like the HTC Vive XR Elite)
Although it wasn’t all good news from Meta, as support for the original Oculus Quest headset was discontinued. April 30 was the last day developers could send app updates to the half-decade-old VR device, and August will be the last month Meta will send “critical bug fixes and security patches” to the device – so if you want to get your Quest library, it might finally be time to upgrade to Meta Quest 3 (which we’d recommend anyway, so you can enjoy upcoming exclusives like Batman: Arkham Shadow).
Finally, specifically in the AR space, Xreal announced the Xreal Air 2 Ultra and a nifty Xreal Beam Pro accessory – which is essentially a smartphone ready for spatial computing. We haven’t had a chance to try out the Ultra yet, but it’s billed as a more affordable alternative to the Vision Pro, complete with built-in cameras so you can interact with virtual elements with your hands (something you couldn’t do with previous models like the regular Xreal Air 2).
AR/VR in 2024: What launches can we expect for the rest of the year?
One headset we’re almost certain to see later this year is the Meta Quest 3S. This supposedly affordable Quest 3 is supposed to pack the Quest 3’s brains (a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset) into a bulky Quest 2-like body – and make a few other downgrades along the way.
Meta hasn’t said much officially, but the device has leaked the device twice. In one leak, the CTO accidentally showed it in the background of a Threads video, while in the other, the Quest 3S accidentally showed up on some Meta Quest Store pages as a compatible headset for certain software. So this pretty much guarantees that it will appear at Meta Connect 2024, which we know is scheduled for September 25 – 26.
Meta also dropped a surprise by teasing its first AR glasses at the end of a blog post earlier this year, but we don’t expect them to launch in 2024 – with a leaked internal roadmap shared by The edge in 2023, suggesting they’ll land in 2027, although 2025 is expected to see some smart forerunners updating the AI-powered Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses product line.
Back to the 2024 releases, we can also expect the long-awaited Samsung XR/VR headset. Samsung and Google announced its existence over a year ago, but haven’t had much to say about it since. Rumors suggest they’ve delayed the launch following backlash over the Apple Vision Pro. Hopefully that means it hasn’t been pushed back from 2024 to 2025 or beyond, but we’ll have to wait and see.