Meta's chief technology officer has all but confirmed reports that the company is abandoning its plan to take on the Apple Vision Pro with a similarly powerful device.
Meta Quest Pro
Right before the announcement of the Apple Vision Pro, Meta "leaked" its four-year plan for virtual and mixed reality headsets. A key part of that plan was the development of what was known internally as La Jolla, but would perhaps have become known the world as Apple Vision Pro's closest rival.
As first spotted by The Information, Meta began development work in November 2023, but then cancelled the project around mid-August 2024. Reportedly, the decision was made at a product review meeting attended by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth, amongst others.
Following the report, Meta's CTO Andrew Bosworth responded with a message on Threads, although he did not directly acknowledge the publication.
"Just your regularly scheduled public service announcement: we have many prototypes in development at all times," he said. "But we don't bring all of them to production."
"We move forward with some, we pass on others," he continued. "Decisions like this happen all the time, and stories based on chatter about one individual decision will never give the real picture."
It's certainly true that Meta is continuing to work on different headsets. But it appears to have dropped its Apple Vision Pro competitor, codenamed La Jolla, and possibly because of cost issues.
There is the fact that the $3,500 Apple Vision Pro has yet to become a dramatic success. But reportedly Meta was focused on keeping the cost of the La Jolla headset under $1,000, and it simply was not possible.
It's believed that La Jolla would have used micro OLED displays, just like the Apple Vision Pro. While not specifically known, the cost of these alone is likely to have been a factor.
Two unspecified sources within Meta said that it was possible that the La Jolla headset could be revived. But also that technology developed for it, such as gaze tracking, would be used in other products.
Meta has not officially announced the cancellation of the project, but as demonstrated with the failed Meta Quest Pro, it tends not to.