Meta Connect 2023: 4 things we expect to see at the Meta Quest 3 launch event
And one thing Meta probably won’t announce
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Editor’s note: The Meta Connect 2023 opening keynote is over. You can read ourMeta Connect event recapfor a full run down as well as our fullMeta Quest 3 reviewand ourhands on RayBan Meta smart glasses review.
Meta Connect 2023 is coming tomorrow, September 27, and we couldn’t be more excited. We already know the highlight of the opening keynote from Mark Zuckerberg will be the full unveiling of theMeta Quest 3headset, but that’s likely not all.
You can check back here tomorrow for our live blog recapping every aspect of the event as it happens as well as our expert analysis of everything that’s announced. For now though, we want to speculate about the things we might see tomorrow based on what has shown off during previous Meta Connects.
Here are four announcements and updates that we expect to see at Meta Connect 2023 – as well as one announcement that we think Meta won’t be making.
More Meta Quest 3 details
This isn’t much of a prediction, as Meta has confirmed that it’ll be officially unveiling the Quest 3 during Meta Connect 2023.
We already know a fair amount about the Quest 3 – it’s a standalone VR headset that will succeed the Quest 2, it’s Meta’s “most powerful headset” yet, and it will start at $499 / £499 / AU$829. But we don’t have many specific details about its specs, release date, and what different Quest 3 models will offer – Meta’s “starts at” pricing suggests that more expensive upgraded versions of the Quest 3 will be available, and while we expect they’ll just be different storage options (as was the case with the Quest 2), we’ll have to see what Meta unveils.
We also don’t know if Meta will show off any new software to take advantage of the Quest 3’s specs. It may announce new VR games and apps that will take advantage of the Quest 3’s improved performance over its predecessors, as well as mixed reality software that will be able to use the Quest 3’s improved color passthrough (the Quest Pro’s color-passthrough was okay but very grainy, andaccording to people in the knowthe Quest 3’s passthrough is significantly better).
Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.
Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.
Microsoft Office on Quest
Speaking of Quest 3 software announcements, we hope that Meta andMicrosoftwill finally announce when nativeOffice apps will be available on the Quest platform. During last year’sMeta Connect 2022event, the companies announced that Office programs (like Word and Excel) were coming to the Quest headsets, but a year later they’ve yet to materialize – the only way to access them is via a virtual desktop app that’s synced with your real-world PC.
The companies also said thatXbox game streaming would be coming to VR, but since the announcement details have been scarce. Meta Connect 2023 would be the perfect time to finally give us a release date – and hopefully one that’s in 2023, as we’re tired of waiting.
Given thatAppleis set to launch itsApple Vision Proheadset in early 2024, Meta only has a few months left to make its platform look as strong as possible before the new rival enters the space. This Apple headset will likely include VR versions of Apple’s catalog of productivity apps such as Pages and Keynote – so Meta would be smart to get Microsoft’s software onto its systems asap.
The metaverse and AI
Horizon Worlds, Meta’s metaverse social media platform, usually gets a shout-out during Connect events, though the announcements are often a little lackluster – last year it was the news that avatars would be getting legs. And to make matters worse, we just hopped into Horizon Worlds, and as of August 14, 2023 our avatars are still legless…
Horizon Worlds doesn’t need legs; it needs reasons for people to use it. Meta has been steadily building up a catalog of VR experiences in the app and making various graphical improvements to it, but there’s still little reason to use Horizon Worlds over other VR software. Hopefully, at Connect 2023 Meta will finally give us a reason to try its metaverse out and not walk… sorry, bounce, away immediately.
One way Meta in which could try to reignite interest is to combine AI with the metaverse, and bring together two of tech’s biggest current subjects. Meta has been hard at work developing AI following the success ofChatGPTand other platforms, and it may want to harness those efforts to try and make its platform more appealing – perhaps by using AI to create bigger and better Horizon Worlds experiences, or to add NPC bots to make the service seem a bit more popular than it is.
With a smartphone version of Horizon Worlds alsoreportedly on the wayfor those who don’t have a VR headset, some kind of AI integration could give more people a reason to try out the app.
AR hardware plans
At Connect 2021 and 2022 Meta mentioned augmented reality (AR) tech, and shown off things it’s working on; but it’s all been in-development tech and prototypes, rather than anything the buying public can get their hands on. We expect this might change at Meta Connect 2023.
Both the 2021 and 2022 events came with teases of hardware that would arrive the following year – in 2021 this was Project Cambria (aka the Quest Pro), and in 2022 Meta teased a new consumer-friendly VR headset (the Quest 3). In 2023 we expect it’ll do something similar, but for AR hardware rather than VR.
One big reason is that we don’t think Meta is ready to tease a new VR headset yet (more on that below), but even if it did, we think an AR announcement makes more sense.
As we mentioned, Meta has been publicly talking about its AR plans for some time, and there are only so many times it can kick the ball down the road before we get tired of it teasing AR tech we can’t use. Additionally, with Apple preferring to talk about augmented reality when discussing about its Vision Pro headset (rather than virtual reality), Meta may want to release its own AR tech to try and capture some of the renewed interest in the space that the Vision Pro has created.
If Meta does tease some kind of AR glasses, it’ll be interesting to see if they’re created in partnership with RayBan – like itsRay-Ban Stories glasses– or if they’re an entirely Meta product. We’ll have to wait and see what happens on September 27.
No Meta Quest Pro 2 teaser
If you’re hoping that Meta will also tease a ‘Meta Quest Pro 2’ during the event, we wouldn’t recommend holding your breath. While this isn’t impossible, we feel that Meta will keep its VR focus on the Quest 3 during the event (outside of showing us any prototypes for non-consumer products, as it’s done in the past)
Our reasoning here is twofold. First, teasing another VR headset just after the Quest 3 releases could put an instant dampener on any excitement people have for the new headset – it won’t get its time in the spotlight, which could hurt sales.
Second, we don’t think Meta is ready to commit to launching a new VR headset in 2024 – which is when a Meta Quest Pro 2 teased at Meta Connect 2023 would arrive, based on Meta’s usual tease-release cadence.
That’s because Meta reportedly recentlycanceled an in-development Quest headsetprototype that leakers have said was the Quest Pro 2. WhileMeta has arguedthat the headset wasn’t the Quest Pro 2, and was instead an undesignated prototype, based on the leaks it sounds like this headset would have become the Pro 2 if development had continued and it was given an official name.
No matter what the project was or wasn’t called, Meta hasn’t disputed the fact that it was canceled, and it will take time for Meta to develop a new prototype to replace it, which tells us the Quest Pro 2 is too far away from being ready for Meta to tease anything.
Hamish is a Senior Staff Writer for TechRadar and you’ll see his name appearing on articles across nearly every topic on the site from smart home deals to speaker reviews to graphics card news and everything in between. He uses his broad range of knowledge to help explain the latest gadgets and if they’re a must-buy or a fad fueled by hype. Though his specialty is writing about everything going on in the world of virtual reality and augmented reality.
Latest Meta Quest 3 update includes a major visual overhaul, and improved PCVR
Samsung teases XR hardware for 2025 – we think it’ll be AR glasses, and here’s why
Belkin’s Travel Bag for Vision Pro has pockets and is way cheaper than Apple’s own case
