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Meta CTO teases ‘big wearables announcements’ for later this year but makes no VR headset promises
- Meta’s CTO was asked what we can expect from Meta Connect 2025
- In response, he teased “big wearables announcements”
- He didn’t mention VR hardware, however
Meta Connect 2025 is fast approaching – it’s a little over a month away on September 17 – but Meta’s CTO is already hinting at what we’ll see at the event, and perhaps just as importantly, he hints at what we won’t see this time by not mentioning it.
Andrew Bosworth hosts frequent AMAs on Instagram (via UploadVR) where he provides sometimes surprisingly open responses to questions posed by the public, with his latest comments relating to one AMA about what to expect from Connect 2025.
After asking himself what he can hint at, Bosworth reveals the event will include “big wearables announcements,” “AI, especially AI plus wearables,” “AI plus metaverse,” and “metaverse software.”
I’ll dive into those – especially the wearables side – in a moment, but I want to highlight a category Bosworth didn’t name: metaverse hardware, aka VR / MR headsets.
Now it’s worth noting that the lack of a promise of an announcement isn’t the same as explicitly saying there won’t be new VR hardware. But the lack of a new Meta Quest 4, Meta Quest Pro 2, or some other kind of headset was expected – and this AMA from Bosworth adds further fuel to the fire of speculation.
Rumors tease a new headset – or goggles – coming from Meta in the future, but it isn’t due to land until at least next year, based on leaks. Waiting also gives Meta flexibility to better push back against whatever Project Moohan from Samsung and Google has in store as Android XR steps into the ring.
The Quest 3 and Quest 3S are great machines; Meta doesn’t need to rush out their successor.
We can at least get excited for new metaverse software, though it’s unclear what form this will take. New VR games or video streaming services would be ideal (an update to Deadpool VR seems likely), but there’s not too much information to go off based on Bosworth’s comments or wider leaks.
Glasses galore
Okay, so don’t hold your breath for a Quest 4. But what hardware should we keep our eyes out for?
Wearables are likely to come in three forms based on rumors and Meta’s recent Oakley smart specs launch.
The most likely is a model codenamed Celeste, according to rumors. These smart glasses have long been rumored and are tipped to be AI glasses – very probably Meta Ray-Bans – with a display for the first time. They won’t be full-on AR like the Orion prototype, instead offering something of a half-step between those and what we have currently.
Celeste is said to only be equipped with a single screen, and it won’t boast a wide field of view or offer positional tracking. This means the notifications and information the glasses show you will always appear at a specific distance away, rather than you being able to virtually set them in space so you can move close or further away to it, like you can with a real object.
These glasses may also come packaged with Meta’s first wristband, or some other smartwatch-like wearable. Rather than tracking health metrics, the Meta watch is believed to mostly be focused on giving you control over virtual objects and notifications, but I wouldn’t be shocked if there was an upgraded version you could buy that includes typical health and fitness monitoring. That is, if the base model lacks those features.
My final wearables prediction is more of a punt, but it makes sense to me when you consider the age of Meta’s most recent Ray-Bans and the hardware upgrades the new Oakleys received.
That is to say, I think Meta will also launch a refresh of its displayless Ray-Bans with the improved camera and battery that the Oakleys offer – perhaps with some new designs to boot.
Unlike Celeste, there aren’t any rumors of this, and usually there would be if we’re close to launch, but it just seems like a no brainer to give Meta’ ultra popular smart glasses a light refresh so they’re in the best possible place to fend off Android XR specs which are due to start dropping in 2026.
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