A cheaper Meta Quest 3 could be coming in September, possibly without controllers

Although Apple had high hopes for its ultra-premium Vision Pro XR headset, the consumers have spoken: they want headsets for gaming, primarily, and want them to be under $1,000 — so the Vision Pro has been an abject failure. To its credit, Meta got the message on this recently by allegedly canceling its own ultra-premium headset that would have competed with the Vision Pro. Now, the long-rumored cheaper model of its most recent XR machine could be around the corner.

The Meta Quest 3S, as its alleged name suggests, would be a pared-down version of the successful Meta Quest 3, which launched in June last year. This leaked information comes from Mark Gurman’s recent Power On newsletter. We had previously heard about a “Lite” model coming, but it looks like Quest 3S could be its new name.

Gurman suggests this cheaper model could land in the $300 to $400 range, making it significantly less expensive than the Quest 3, which starts at $499 for the 128GB model. Gurman says it’s possible Meta could meet that lower price tier by selling the controllers separately. However, this would be a cumbersome move from a consumer perspective, as most people will want the controllers. If the controllers are sold separately for $100, for example, the combined price would get you close to the standard Quest 3, making the whole idea of the Quest 3S irrelevant. So we think there will be controllers in the box with the Quest 3S, but they may not be the same controllers that come with the Quest 3.

We expect Meta to announce the Quest 3S at its Connect event, which is happening at its Menlo Park headquarters on September 25 and 26. Gurman also suggests we could see some new Google Glass-like AR glasses, codenamed “Orion.” These would be different from the surprisingly successful Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, but similar in concept.