We may have to wait until 2027 for the launch of the next pair of Meta mixed reality smart glasses

• Meta's upcoming smart specs have been delayed
• The glasses will feature improved mixed reality tech
• Meta needs "more breathing room" to get them done

It seems that we may have to wait a little longer for Meta's rumored mixed reality (MR) smart glasses to make an appearance: the latest leak around the device suggests its launch has been pushed back from next year to 2027.

This comes from a couple of internal memos from Meta execs, apparently seen by Business Insider (via Engadget). It says the glasses, codenamed 'Phoenix', are going to be delayed so that the company can get "more breathing room to get the details right".

Another section of the memo says the final product will benefit: "There's a lot coming in hot with tight bring-up schedules and big changes to our core UX," it reads, "and we won't compromise on landing a fully polished and reliable experience."

We don't know too much about these MR glasses, but according to sources including The Information, they're going to be in the style of goggles, and have a separate puck accessory to hold the battery (and perhaps some of the computing power).

Lots more hardware on the way

Meta is now an experienced maker of augmented reality and virtual reality devices of course, with the Meta Quest 4 rumored to be on the way – although it's unlikely to see the light of day before 2026 at the earliest, according to rumors.

The company also has its own smart specs too, most recently in the form of the Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses (with a separate neural band controller for your wrist) and the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 (without a display).

It seems that the 'Phoenix' upgrade in the pipeline might be somewhere in between the smart glasses we've already seen, and the larger Quest headsets – perhaps based on the Meta Orion glasses we've seen already, in prototype form.

We do know from earlier leaks that plenty of AI wearables of various descriptions are on the way – including a wearable device codenamed 'Malibu 2' as per the Business Insider article – but we'll have to wait a little longer for one of them it seems.

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