Announcement of the premium VR headset Quest Pro worth $1.5 thousand surprised the average user who is used to slightly different prices for these devices. But it turns out that Meta has plans for a much more affordable model: more precisely, a new version of the “standard” Quest headset.

During the company’s most recent earnings call, Dave Winer, the company’s CFO, said, among other things, that “the next generation of Quest’s affordable VR headset will be released later next year.” In turn, Mark Zuckerberg also mentioned “Quest for ordinary users” – he did not specify the specific name of the device, but clearly meant Meta Quest 3. No dates are mentioned, but most likely the release of the new Quest will be tied to another Meta Connect event, which usually takes place in the fall.

Additionally, in a recent interview Mark Zuckerberg also told us that we should expect Quest 3 — it will not be released this year, and will be in the $300-500 price range. That’s much closer to the Quest 2, which starts at $299.

At the same time, although the Quest 3 has a “budget look” against the background of the Quest Pro, there are indications that the new Quest headset will receive some “premium” features: Mark Zuckerberg said that it would support face and eye tracking, just like the Pro-version, plus according to unofficial rumors, in Quest 3 thinner pancake lenses would also be used.