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Meta Confirms Quest 3 VR Headset Is Arriving In 2023

A follow-up to the Quest 2 is coming "later next year."

Scott Stein Editor at Large
I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future.
Expertise VR and AR, gaming, metaverse technologies, wearable tech, tablets Credentials
  • Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
Scott Stein
Oculus Quest 2 VR

The Quest 2, which debuted in 2020, is getting an upgrade next year.

James Martin/CNET

Meta's new $1,500 Quest Pro business-targeted VR headset has just arrived, but Meta has confirmed that a mainstream, lower-cost follow-up to the 2-year-old Quest 2 is coming in 2023. The news dropped during Meta's latest earnings report, which revealed that Meta lost another $3.67 billion on its VR/AR division, with expectations for greater losses in 2023. 

According to Meta's report, "growth in cost of revenue is expected to accelerate, driven by infrastructure-related expenses and, to a lesser extent, Reality Labs hardware costs driven by the launch of our next generation of our consumer Quest headset later next year." 

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg already confirmed that a follow-up to the Quest 2 is coming in a recent interview with Ben Thomson, and that its price is expected to be around the same as that of the Quest 2. If Meta's last VR headset launches are indications, it'll likely come at Meta's next Connect conference next fall.

The Quest 2's price increased earlier this year, but Meta's device remains one of the most affordable self-contained VR headsets, largely because it's subsidized by Meta. TikTok parent company ByteDance released a competing, similar-priced VR headset in Europe and Asia, the Pico 4, which has upgrades in headset optics and its onboard cameras, features that could also come to the Quest 3 along with an upgraded processor. 

Meta may not incorporate face and eye tracking into the Quest 3, however, leaving those features to its business-focused Pro device.