The Verge’s Alex Heath experiences Meta canceled {hardware} codenamed Cardiff.
In his Command Line weekly e-newsletter, Heath writes he “heard of not less than two early-stage {hardware} prototypes, one codenamed Cardiff and the opposite Hermosa, which have been canned not too long ago.”
In Might final 12 months, The Data stated it considered an inner Meta roadmap exhibiting the subsequent two mainline headsets after Quest 2 and the primary two high-end headsets (the primary being the Quest Professional launched in October). The 2 mainline headsets had been stated to be codenamed Stinson and Cardiff and set to launch in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
Stinson is sort of actually Quest 3, as Meta has successfully confirmed it’s launching this 12 months. So what precisely would Cardiff have been? There are a couple of prospects to contemplate.
Quest 4?
Qualcomm appears set to replace its XR2 chipset after three years, however the VR market would in all probability have to get a lot larger to speed up this cycle. Quest 3 is about to launch three years after Quest 2 alongside the subsequent technology XR2, nevertheless it’s attainable Cardiff might have been a transfer to a yearly launch cycle with comparatively minor enhancements. Such a transfer would discourage some folks from shopping for as a result of they’d fear their headset could be rapidly outdated, although.
Quest Lite?
Cardiff might have been a decrease price choice geared toward bringing VR to many extra folks than even Quest 2 and three. However what precisely would Meta reduce or cut back? A weaker processor would restrict the functions it might run, whereas a decrease decision show wouldn’t save a lot on price. Financial savings may very well be achieved by eradicating combined actuality sensors, however this wouldn’t match Meta’s long-term technique and restrict the userbase for combined actuality content material.
Quest 3 Plus?
The value and have gulf between the $400 Quest 2 and the $1500 Quest Professional is huge. Quest 3 is about to get shade passthrough for combined actuality however leaked schematics recommend it gained’t have eye or face monitoring.
The more than likely chance is that Cardiff might have sat between Quest 3 and Quest Professional 2, providing options like eye monitoring whereas priced decrease than the next-generation high-end gadget.
As for Hermosa, there hasn’t been any reporting suggesting what it might have been, and we haven’t heard something both.
If something about Cardiff or Hermosa, please e-mail suggestions@uploadvr.com or contact me on Twitter.
