The battle for your face will get serious next year. A new report says that the next generation of Meta's AR/VR/mixed reality headset, the Meta Quest Pro 2, will launch in 2025 – and it could be part of a partnership with LG. It could be a serious rival to Apple's Vision Pro.
According to Korean publication Hankyung, Mark Zuckerberg is flying to meet LG CEO Cho Joo-Wan tomorrow, 28 February, to hammer out the final details of an LG/Meta partnership. That partnership won't just involve LG manufacturing the next generation headset, but possibly providing the operating system and integration of all kinds of devices.
According to the report, the launch of the Meta Quest Pro 2 is currently planned for the second quarter of 2025. And it could be a very interesting device indeed.
What's so interesting about a Meta Quest Pro 2?
In our Meta Quest Pro review we said it was the beginning of the mixed reality era, and we praised the hardware in particular.
The Meta Quest Pro differs from the Vision Pro in several ways. First and foremost, it's not the hardware equivalent of a beta: where the Apple headset is currently aimed at app developers rather than everyday users, the Meta Pro is a finished product. Secondly, it's much cheaper: today's price is $999 compared to $3,499 for the Vision Pro. And the Meta Quest Pro has lots of games as well as tight integration with Microsoft Office, Teams and even Xbox Game Pass.
The price difference is expected to shrink with the next generation Meta Quest Pro 2, which is believed to have a target price of around $2,000 – still cheaper than the Vision Pro, but a lot more expensive than the current version. I'd expect that to drop, though: the Quest Pro was initially $1,499 before dropping to its current $999.
One of the most intriguing details in the new report is that Meta is apparently considering using a custom version of LG's WebOS for the operating system. WebOS is considered by many to be the operating system that got away, a clever and very attractive OS that just couldn't get traction against the might of iOS and Android.
That may open up some interesting new possibilities for the headset and its compatibility with other products: the report says that Zuckerberg will be discussing integrating Meta's AI tech into various LG electronics and home appliances.
That's as much as we know for now, but unlike Apple Meta tends to give details of forthcoming products quite far in advance – and if Apple's Vision Pro continues to dominate the headlines you can expect quite a few Meta spoilers in the run up to its headset's release. In the meantime, check out the current state of the art in our guide to the very best VR headsets.
