# Meta says new VR headsets will now wait for a major breakthrough

Source: https://idevice.com/meta-says-new-vr-headsets-will-now-wait-for-a-major-breakthrough
Published: 2026-10-26

> Quest sales fell last quarter, and Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will only ship new VR hardware when it has something big, so don't wait for a new Quest.

Meta's next VR headset will come when Meta thinks it has something big, not on a yearly schedule. Mark Zuckerberg said so on the company's third-quarter earnings call last week: "We are changing our approach to virtual reality to only ship new devices when we have major breakthroughs like we had with the Meta VR Glasses this year."

Reality Labs, the part of Meta that makes its headsets and glasses, brought in $443 million in the quarter. That's down 6%. Susan Li, Meta's finance chief, put the drop down to lower Quest headset sales. Strong growth in its AI glasses, the Ray-Ban Meta line among them, made up part of the gap, which means the headsets fell by more than the 6% shows.

Zuckerberg said he still thinks VR is the way to get to everyday glasses that blend the physical and digital worlds. But Meta "will pace this aspect of our investment more to focus on delivering personal superintelligence first," he said, using Meta's name for its AI work. That same AI push took over Meta's Connect conference in September.

The one breakthrough he named is the [Meta VR Glasses](https://idevice.com/head/meta-phoenix/roadmap). They're due in spring 2027 at $1,300, and Meta is aiming them at professionals and serious hobbyists. Sandisk is already signed up to make their official storage cards.

That leaves [Quest 3](https://idevice.com/head/meta-quest/roadmap/quest-3) and Quest 3S as Meta's game headsets, and the company no longer has a regular schedule for replacing them. Road to VR reported that Meta had already pulled most of its money for big, expensive VR games earlier this year, with no sign it plans to start again.

Since October 10, Meta and ESPN have streamed live college football to Quest in 180 degrees, so today's headsets are still getting new things to watch.

If you're thinking about a Quest 3 or 3S this holiday season, don't wait for a new one. Meta hasn't promised a successor, and under this plan the next headset only arrives when Meta decides it has a breakthrough. Buy the one you want now, knowing Meta is paying for fewer big new games than it used to.