Your Meta Quest headset might soon be retired – Meta ending support for two popular models

Meta Quest stole an early lead in virtual reality headsets, offering an affordable and easy way to get into VR – starting as Oculus before changing the name after being purchased by the owner of Facebook. While others have come along to challenge since, the fact that some Meta Quest models are losing support is testament to how long they have been around.

The models in question are the Meta Quest 2 and the Meta Quest Pro. The Meta Quest 2 was launched in 2020 and at the time we highlighted that it finally felt like a headset that would deliver on the VR promise. It did that by the bucketload.

The Meta Quest Pro, however, runs on the same platform and both of these headsets' support ends with OS v2.13, according to a Meta Developer blog post. That update should reach all device by March 2027, while bug fixes and security patches will continue through to the end of 2027.

That means that the Meta Quest 2 will have seen seven years of support, while the Meta Quest Pro will only have five years, because it launched in 2022.

Is my Meta Quest 2 or Meta Quest Pro headset dead?

That's not the end for these headsets though: Meta makes it clear that apps will keep working, so people can still browse and buy the software, as well as play games, including cross-play with newer headsets.

And for those with headsets they are happy with, playing games and enjoying other VR experiences, that will all keep working. However, the loss of security updates means less protection, while no new features will be delivered to these older devices.

The blog also outlines something of Meta's direction with its VR devices. It says that the Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S are the "baseline for Meta VR gamers", while Meta VR Glasses will soon land to pick up some of the action too.

The move to Meta VR Glasses sees a step up in price. Sitting at $1,299, they are quite a departure from the affordability that has defined Meta's VR devices so far. That might raise questions if there's no affordable option when the Quest 3 reaches the end of its life.

Meta Quest 3 and 3S – launched in 2023 and 2024 respectively – run on the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip and are said to have security updates until at least October 2028 and October 2029.