Meta Quest 4: not at Connect, a gaming Quest in leaked memos, rumored not before late 2027. Everything we know

The stage looked set for a new Quest. Meta’s last two Quest headsets had been launched at its Connect event in September, and in July Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth told fans to “stay tuned for Connect.” When Connect came on Sept. 23, 2026, Meta showed Meta VR Glasses instead: glasses weighing about 100 grams, with a pocket puck on a tether, on sale in spring 2027 for $1,299.99.

The short version: Meta has not announced a Quest 4, a name, a date or a price. Its US store still sells only the Quest 3, now $599.99, and the Quest 3S, from $349.99. Leaked memos describe a next mainline Quest built for immersive gaming, and a VR news site, working from those memos and its own sources, puts it no earlier than the second half of 2027.

The headset that did not show up

Bosworth had been dropping hints for months. In an interview recorded at Davos in January, the CTO said “it’s officially leaked we’ve got two devices on the roadmap that we’re super excited about,” and that the timing “could be anything, could be tomorrow.” In the July Instagram Q&A, Bosworth went further: Meta is “building multiple next-generation headsets.”

Meta called Meta VR Glasses “our most advanced device yet,” and the Connect recap it posted on Sept. 24 lists the glasses, new AI glasses and its Muse AI agent, but no new Quest.

That broke a pattern. Meta showed Quest 3 at Connect on Sept. 27, 2023, from $499.99, and shipped it on Oct. 10, 2023. A year later, on Sept. 25, 2024, Connect brought the cheaper Quest 3S from $299.99, on sale Oct. 15, 2024.

Pismo, the rumored 2026 Quest 4

The Pismo story began in July 2024, when a tech business publication, citing people who worked on the headsets, reported that Quest 4 would ship in 2026 in two models: a cheaper “Pismo Low” and a premium “Pismo High.” A month later another report from a tech business publication, citing two Meta employees, said Meta had canceled “La Jolla,” a premium micro-OLED headset planned for 2027, a rumor still holding.

Pismo did not last, a VR news site reported on June 2, 2025, citing multiple sources and two well-known dataminers. Both models were canceled, it said, a regular Quest most likely would not ship until 2027, and the ultralight headset had moved up to the end of 2026. That timing later changed, and so did both Pismo claims: Connect on Sept. 23, 2026, brought no Quest, and Meta has never used the Pismo names.

Puffin, Phoenix and a pair of glasses

The leaks that mostly panned out belong to a different device. In August 2024 a tech business publication, citing people familiar with the plans, described “Puffin”: an ultralight headset under 110 grams that looks like bulky glasses, with battery and compute in a tethered pocket puck, no controllers and a 2027 target. In June 2025 a US business newspaper said the glasses-like headset, codenamed “Loma,” would cost less than $1,000 and arrive in 2026.

Then came the memos. Leaked internal Meta memos reported on Dec. 5, 2025, said the puck-tethered headset, now codenamed “Phoenix,” had slipped from the second half of 2026 to the first half of 2027 for more polish. A day later a VR news site reported that Meta had floated “Quest Air” as a name. In February 2026 dataminers found graphics of a compact headset with glasses-style nose pads in Quest firmware, and in late July a setup video from the firmware showed removable nose clips, hand and eye tracking and the tethered puck. A Taiwanese supply chain publication added in September that SeeYA has begun supplying its micro-OLED panels, a report still holding because Meta has not named suppliers.

Sept. 23 settled most of it. The weight, the glasses shape, the puck, the lack of controllers and the 2027 window were confirmed. The price under $1,000 and the “Quest Air” name were both contradicted that day.

Not a Quest 4

It is tempting to call Meta VR Glasses the Quest 4. Meta does not. The glasses are about five times lighter than a Quest 3 and push compute, battery and storage into a puck that connects by an optical tether. Inside the puck is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Reality Elite. The 5K micro-OLED display runs at 37 pixels per degree, against 25 on the Quest 3, and the puck lasts up to 3 hours of video. Over 75 games work with hand gestures at launch.

Meta pitches them for movies, live sports, work and games. The Quest 3 is a different machine: a standalone headset with a strap, a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, Touch Plus controllers and 2.2 hours of battery.

The gaming Quest in the memos

Most of what is known about the next true Quest comes from the same memos that got the glasses delay right. They say Meta has started work on a next mainline Quest focused on immersive gaming, a “large upgrade” over Quest 3. They also say the next Quest should “significantly improve unit economics,” though they give no price. Both lines are still holding.

The timing comes from a VR news site that combined the memos with its own sources on Dec. 6, 2025: the ultralight headset in the first half of 2027, and a traditional Quest 4 no earlier than the second half. The glasses part has held up. The Quest 4 part is still holding, with no date from Meta. In February 2026 a Horizon OS dataminer on social media added a codename for the next regular Quest, “Griffin,” also still holding. Beyond that, no chip, display, weight or price for a new Quest has leaked.

Money moves to glasses

Meta’s own words show where the money is going. In December 2025 it paused its program for Horizon OS headsets from other makers “to focus on building the world-class first-party hardware and software needed to advance the VR market.” On Jan. 13, 2026, it confirmed layoffs in Reality Labs and the closure of three VR game studios. On Jan. 28 it reported that Reality Labs lost $19.19 billion in 2025, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta is “directing most of our investment towards glasses and wearables” while making VR “a profitable ecosystem over the coming years.”

On April 29 Zuckerberg called Meta “the biggest investor in the VR space” but “focused on making our VR business sustainable,” as Reality Labs revenue fell on lower Quest headset sales. In the second quarter Reality Labs lost $4.62 billion on $431 million in revenue, and Meta said AI glasses grew while Quest sales fell.

Quest 3 got pricier, not cheaper

On April 16, 2026, Meta said that from April 19 the 512GB Quest 3 would cost $599.99, up from $499.99, and the Quest 3S $349.99 for 128GB and $449.99 for 256GB. Meta blamed a global surge in memory chip prices.

Anyone who wants a Quest for games today can pick only the Quest 3 or the Quest 3S; Meta has announced nothing to replace them. Meta VR Glasses, at $1,299.99, will cost more than twice as much as a Quest 3.

What to watch next

The next date is Oct. 21, 2026, when Meta reports third-quarter results after the market closes, followed by its call. Look there for Reality Labs numbers, the state of Quest sales and any word on the “multiple next-generation headsets” Bosworth says Meta is building. After that, watch for an exact spring 2027 date for Meta VR Glasses, which Meta has not given. We update this story as soon as Meta names a Quest 4, a date or a price.