- The Meta Quest 4 has reportedly been delayed until 2027
- A high-end Meta headset (Puffin) should now come next year instead
- There’s no update on Asus or Lenovo’s Horizon OS headsets
A new leak suggests that Meta’s Quest 4 headset has been pushed back from next year to 2027 – although when it does arrive it could prove to be worth the wait, as it might be a very different device to the Quest 3.
Thankfully, we can, apparently, still look forward to a Meta Quest Pro 2 launch – so new VR hardware does still seem to be incoming.
These leaks come via two sources: Brad Lynch and Luna, both of which have solid track records when it comes to VR leaks. Lynch posted a jokey poll saying only one of the Valve Deckard and Meta Quest 4 would be landing this year, while Luna reported to have heard rumors that the Quest 4 has been delayed until 2027.
According to the leakers this is due to the cancellation of two Meta prototypes that were likely Quest 4 candidates: Pismo Low and Pismo High (budget and premium models to match the Quest 3s and Quest 3 releases).
Instead we could be getting a headset based on the Puffin prototype Meta has been developing.
Puffin is set to be a more high-end offering – something akin to a Meta Quest Pro 2, although given the way leakers are talking about the device it sounds like it might launch under a different, non-Quest name.
That’s because it’s set to have a very different design to what we’re used to, i.e., a pair of VR goggles tethered to a puck, kind of like the Apple Vision Pro. I say ‘kind of’ because Puffin’s puck wouldn’t just be a battery but its processing brains as well, to further shift weight away from the headset and into the user’s pocket.
It should still run Horizon OS, but the device’s focus would be more for productivity and static entertainment (e.g. watching films in VR) rather than what we typically expect from Meta’s VR headsets.
Outside of Meta we’re still waiting to see what its Horizon OS partners – Asus, Lenovo, and Xbox – are developing. In the same way that multiple device manufacturers are set to use Android XR, this trio are working on headsets running Meta’s Quest operating system.
We’ve yet to hear anything about Lenovo’s device, though Asus’s rumored Tarius headset will supposedly be part of its ROG range, suggesting it’ll be a gaming-focused headset with enhanced displays and features like eye-tracking to make it a more premium offering than the existing Quest models.
Hopefully these headsets will be launching soon, and a 2026 debut could be on the cards – and if Meta isn’t launching a Quest 4 next year it could be a prime time for Lenovo and Asus to showcase their devices.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
