Meta's VR hardware roadmap has apparently leaked, giving us details of its next four headsets, including the price and specs of its Oculus Quest 2 Pro.
Officially called Project Cambria, this bloated device is expected to replace Meta's current best headset, the Oculus Quest 2 (now renamed the Meta Quest 2), when it launches later this year.
When announced in October 2021, Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Meta) explained that Cambria will be a "premium" technology that will produce better VR and MR (mixed reality) experiences than anything Meta has achieved before. This means that improved specifications and software could be directed at us.
More recently, Zuckerberg described it as a replacement for his laptop and work setup. Now, a report from The Information has reaffirmed the idea that Cambria will be a "laptop for the face."
The leaked internal roadmap suggests Project Cambria will cost $799 (about $640 / AU$1,125) and be as powerful as a Chromebook, running Meta's own Android operating system.
Based on the best Chromebooks you can buy right now, as well as the Meta Quest 2 specs, it looks like Project Cambria will have at least 8GB of RAM and probably around 256GB of storage. We are also likely to see its processor get a boost as well. However, Meta may have to design its own chip, as Qualcomm has yet to release a follow-up to the Snapdragon XR2 that powers Meta's Quest 2.
We've also previously heard that Cambria will incorporate two mini LED displays that will likely offer a 120Hz refresh rate (to improve on Quest 120's "experimental" 2Hz feature).
A welcome review
(*two*)
The only image we have of the Cambria project (Image credit: Meta)On top of that, the single image posted for Project Cambria (seen above) shows that the drivers have been slightly redesigned. Unlike the ones used for Quest 2, these new controllers lack tracking rings, suggesting that Cambria will use a different method of tracking the movement of your hands.
As for its other VR headsets, the same report from The Information says that Meta is expected to release Quest 3 (codenamed Stinson) in 2023, followed by Project Funston and Project Cardiff in 2024.
Funston would be an improvement over Project Cambria, and Cardiff is supposed to be a low-end device.
A Meta Quest 4 in 2024 seems pretty unlikely as Quest 3 would have only been released the year before. As such, we'd expect the Cardiff to be more of an AR glasses of sorts (perhaps the follow-up to the RayBan Stories smart glasses) or perhaps a VR headset designed for kids, a device we've been waiting a long time for Meta to want to produce.
We'll have to wait a bit longer before Meta reveals more about Project Stinson or Cardiff; We still don't have much official information about Project Cambria or Meta Quest 3. But if four headsets are down by the end of 2024, Meta might want to start making announcements soon.