Source: Meta will not publicly release the first version of its AR glasses, scheduled for 2024, to focus on its second version, unlikely to arrive for years

Meta Platforms has scaled back its plans to release a series of augmented reality glasses over the next several years as part …

The Information 2022-06-10 Sylvia Varnham O'Regan

Context & Ripple Effects

Meta’s initial Orion plan was already being recast as a developer program rather than a consumer launch: the first units would be distributed exclusively to developers to seed software for later hardware. The decision concentrates Meta’s near-term AR effort on making a follow-on device viable.

Later coverage shows that the program remained constrained by hardware trade-offs, including a delay to at least 2027 after component cuts, while Meta also planned only about 1,000 first-generation units.

First-order effects

Meta forgoes a public first-generation launch and directs the limited Orion deployment toward developers, delaying consumer access while preserving a software-testing channel.
Developers, rather than retail buyers, become the immediate users Meta relies on to build and test applications for its later AR glasses.

Second-order effects

A later Meta device inherits a more important burden: it must justify the years of deferred consumer release with both workable hardware and a developer software base.
The small initial build limits the first device’s role as a production product, keeping Meta’s AR effort centered on prototypes, demonstrations, and developer feedback.

Third-order effects

If this pattern persists, AR glasses development will be organized around long developer-only validation cycles before public launches, making technical readiness—not launch schedules—the gate for consumer hardware.
Meta’s sequence of scaled-back specifications and delayed availability points to a market structure in which only programs able to sustain extended hardware iteration can carry an AR platform forward.

The trend: Meta’s AR strategy is shifting from scheduled consumer releases toward tightly limited developer hardware that supports longer-cycle product iteration.

Discussion

@amir Amir Efrati on x
News flash: hardware is hard. ⁦@SylviaVarnham⁩ re $meta's ever-shifting in plans https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@adamholisky Adam Holisky on x
Maybe, just maybe ... and here me out because this is radical and I have no experience whatsoever ever with this concept ... companies should plan for a product to suck at launch and get better over time. What an absolute waste of product management time and effort. https://twitt…
@tariqkrim @tariqkrim on x
It took more than a decade for Google to get some hardware right. Facebook (meta) lacks the internal culture and development platform to compete in the space. https://www.theverge.com/...
@sylviavarnham @sylviavarnham on x
Scoop: Meta has decided not to release its forthcoming “Nazare” AR glasses, and will instead focus on a second version of the glasses. This announcement was part of a wider shakeup at Reality Labs this week as it tries to cut costs. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@ericpresidentvr @ericpresidentvr on x
@SadlyItsBradley Smart AR is very very far away
@sadlyitsbradley Brad Lynch on x
@Tsukinune This is what they should do anyway. Optical AR hardware is still pretty bad. I don't expect it to be much better in 2024
@hrafntho Hrafn Thorisson on x
This is for the best, imho. Use cases and viability of consumer smartglasses is pretty far out, or at least I think Meta in particular still got quite a road ahead of them. Better to consolidate efforts on VR/AR passthrough at home, for the time being.
@lopezlinette Linette Lopez on x
Someone over there still doesn't understand that 0x0=0 but at they're getting closer, I guess. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@jonstephens85 Jonathan Stephens on x
Did we reach peak AR/VR/MR on the hype curve? Everyone is scaling back as the reality has set in that all of this tech is expensive and will take years to launch. Not saying we shouldn't be building it, but the hype was inflated. #AR #MixedReality https://www.theinformation.com/ …
@andreworlowski Andrew Orlowski on x
Facebook's spy glasses postponed to ... never https://twitter.com/...
@ghadjia George Hadjia on x
Probs a net negative. Bad to the extent that it casts doubt on execution re XR + delays payback on investments being made today. Good in terms of cost control that will protect mgns and perhaps help stock Px which has reflexive effect on workforce via SBC. https://www.theinformat…
@tsukinune Tsuki on x
@SadlyItsBradley Seems they are going all in on the VR/MR paradigm for the near term of their platform with stuff like Quest and Cambria. Nazare is somewhat surprising, but also not sense they didn't have a prototype and it was just another low FOV AR device.
@harrymccracken Harry McCracken on x
It kind of does feel like winning the metaverse hardware race won't be about throwing the most resources at it or shipping first. But I do wonder what it might mean for Meta's product if Apple's has a big head start. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@sarahfrier Sarah Frier on x
Update: Meta also told employees that it won't be selling a version of its AR glasses that have been in development for three years. Focusing on a later version of the AR glasses instead. (@KurtWagner8 confirms @SylviaVarnham scoop) https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
I have been saying this all along. https://t.co/PQZK2Jy6ek
@jamespmcleod James McLeod on x
it rules that they renamed the company for vaporware https://twitter.com/...
@pierce David Pierce on x
The metaverse is looking more and more like self-driving cars, in that it's going to take 10 times as long as anyone predicted and be 10 times as hard as anyone thought https://t.co/Q1MGXKbg1G
@kevin_raposo Kevin Raposo on x
Magic Leap 3.0 https://twitter.com/...
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
No custom silicon. No homegrown operating system. Costs out of control. The real business (Facebook and Insta) facing an aging user base and tough competition. So here we are —> https://twitter.com/...
@yorksranter Alex Harrowell on x
Presumably they realised why Microsoft did a custom chip for theirs https://twitter.com/...
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
New: FB/Meta is halting development of its smartwatch, code named Project Milan. It was tentatively scheduled for release in Spring 2023 https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@palafo Patrick LaForge on x
Introducing, the Facebook Wrist Portal https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@tidefallcapital Trevor Scott on x
Yes! $META slowly realizing it is insane to compete directly with $AAPL. Good call @boztank!!! https://twitter.com/...
@mattnavarra Matt Navarra on x
Meta Halts Development of Apple Watch Rival With Two Cameras - Device had WiFi, built-in Spotify and GPS, prototype shows - Meta is still actively building other devices for the wrist https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@jank0 Janko Roettgers on x
Meta will pivot the Portal away from consumers https://www.protocol.com/...
@katienotopoulos Katie Notopoulos on x
@CaseyNewton this is the worst day of my life
@alexhern @alexhern on x
RIP to Portal, the camera in your home that Facebook tried to launch almost immediately after Cambridge Analytics reminded everyone why you shouldn't let Facebook put a camera in your home, you lasted longer than we expected https://www.theverge.com/...
@nikunj Nikunj Kothari on x
@JohnnyBrackett Very very happy customer here 🙋‍♂️
@katebevan Kate Bevan on x
This is a shame, as it's a genuinely good device, Facebook notwithstanding. It was a godsend at the start of the pandemic for a lot of older, tech-shy people. https://www.theverge.com/...
@counternotions Kontra on x
So the company that couldn't sell a subsidized video-calling tablet to its ‘community’ of 3 billion consumers in about half a decade, is going to shift personal computing to its metaverse en masse? https://www.protocol.com/...
@katienotopoulos Katie Notopoulos on x
@CaseyNewton gonna stockpile them up next to my cache of palm pres, zunes, and pebble watches
@keithdsouza Keith on x
So offloading excess inventory of a creepy device... https://twitter.com/...
@katienotopoulos Katie Notopoulos on x
As the #1 Portal reporter and fan, I think this is a big mistake and/or Meta blew its chance to actually market these to consumers better. It's SO GOOD for kids/grandparents. They should've been like Pampers and given out free samples in the delivery room https://twitter.com/...
@_danilo @_danilo on x
breaking: customers balk at buying spy camera from the creepiest dude in the world https://www.protocol.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Finally, Portal no longer being sold as a consumer device is not surprising given how it hasn't really caught on, though I'm skeptical Meta can convince people to use it over a laptop camera unless it's integrated into conference rooms https://www.theverge.com/...
@johnnybrackett Johnny Brackett on x
I don't have one, but what's striking to me about the Portal is if you find someone who *does* have one, they love it. https://twitter.com/...
@ldrogen Leigh Drogen on x
Consumers didn't want Facebook literally watching them in their homes with a camera? I'm shocked, shocked!!! https://twitter.com/...
@johnnybrackett Johnny Brackett on x
@nikunj Everyone who tells me that is also a parent!
@blakekozak Blake Kozak on x
Makes sense. These smart speakers were never very popular. They will have an uphill battle as other brands like Amazon have already been offering business solutions for a few years https://twitter.com/...
@dcseifert @dcseifert on x
Oculus excepted (which was technically an acquisition), Facebook/Meta's hardware efforts for consumers really do not have a great track record of success: https://www.theverge.com/...
@ambiej Amber Jamieson on x
@katienotopoulos @CaseyNewton URGH this is so annoying, this is actually the best way to keep in touch w little kids :(
@baydr @baydr on x
This is a shame. I don't have a lot of love for Meta but Portal is a good product. https://twitter.com/...
@louwhiteman Lou Whiteman on x
As it usually is with this company, the core mistake is that they grossly overestimate the amount of Facebook most of us want in our lives. True of consumers. Likely true of businesses. Just because “Facebook can do that!” doesn"t mean anyone wants them to do it. $META $FB https:…
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
From May: The Metaverse Sure Feels Like An Enterprise Thing https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@nikunj Nikunj Kothari on x
@JohnnyBrackett Bonus if they are south Asian since portal is really a glorified WhatsApp calling device for meera (and us) to talk to her family in india
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
The 63 non Facebook employees are going to be really annoyed that they bought into this. https://www.theverge.com/...
@mg @mg on x
Well this is disappointing to see. Portal is one of my favorite pieces of hardware, and something I use every day. It could have been so much more. https://twitter.com/...
@kylebrussell Kyle Russell on x
We switched from using these to call family to just doing FaceTime 🤷‍♂️ https://twitter.com/...
@mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x
So the Portal went from the worst-timed product ever (launched in middle of Cambridge scandal) to the best-timed product ever (product/pandemic fit) back to the worst-timed product ever (Meta and economic collapse). Life comes at you fast. https://twitter.com/...
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Which companies (besides Meta) want to buy this for their employees? https://twitter.com/...
@boztank Boz on x
We're going to ship wrist wearables and AR glasses that bring completely new tech—like EMG— to market. The path to groundbreaking products is not a straight line. As is common in our industry, we iterate on multiple prototypes in parallel & shift resources as we learn.
@rustybrick Barry Schwartz on x
Excited to buy a new box for my desk of tech boxes.... https://twitter.com/...
@thatpatrickguy Patrick Catanzariti on x
Meta are looking to take the same approach as a bunch of headset manufacturers and go developer first for their AR headset as it's not consumer-ready — even with all the budget and talent... AR hardware is hard! https://www.theverge.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
The first version of Meta's full AR glasses will be for devs only so that they can build software for the device & future versions. High cost to build & specs not being consumer-ready played into the decision. Mimics Snap's approach with Spectacles https://www.theverge.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
I detailed Meta's roadmap for AR glasses in April. The specs/production volume I reported then are still true. Meta hadn't decided if v1 would be sold commercially or not till this week. Kudos to @SylviaVarnham for the scoop https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Also heard what @KurtWagner8 reported re: Meta cancelling its smartwatch with a detachable body and two cameras. Design didn't work well with the EMG/brain interface tech Meta wants to control the glasses, so pivoting to a design that is better for that https://www.bloomberg.com/…
@hmltn Ian Hamilton on x
@boztank Are you committed to continuing the camera glasses line? Will there be a hardware gen 2 of Stories?
@sadlyitsbradley Brad Lynch on x
Meta has cancelled its “Nazare” AR glasses plan Meta has cancelled its “Milan” Smartwatch plans Meta is transitioning its Portal devices from consumer to Enterprise There are some new realities happening within FRL, it seems. And it isn't Virtual...
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
Translation. Consumers will never see them. https://www.theverge.com/...
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
I'm told a less advanced, entry-level pair of AR glasses that pair with a phone (codenamed Hypernova) are still on track. And v2 of the full-fledged AR glasses will be sold to consumers, just not v1. More here: https://www.theverge.com/...

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