Meta Connect 2026: Everything to Know About Meta's September XR Event

Meta Connect 2026 will take place on September 23 and 24, on the Meta campus in Menlo Park. This annual event is shaping up to be the showcase for the group's upcoming ambitions in artificial intelligence, smart glasses, and virtual reality. Between the rise of AI glasses, the uncertainty surrounding the next Quest headset, and new "superintelligence" models, this edition promises to shape the future of the XR industry for years to come. Here's everything you need to know: date, expected products, key information, and our predictions.

Meta Connect 2026: when and where is the event happening?

Meta Connect 2026 will be held on September 23 and 24, 2026, on the company's historic campus in Menlo Park, California. The event will take the form of a free two-day livestream, open to everyone, with an evening keynote hosted by Mark Zuckerberg. For industry professionals who want to attend in person, tickets are available for $299, with the event historically drawing several thousand attendees.

The official program includes a public keynote on the first evening, followed by developer-focused technical sessions the next day. Meta has confirmed that these sessions will cover virtual reality, wearables, the metaverse, and artificial intelligence — the group's four strategic pillars for 2026.

What products will Meta unveil at Meta Connect 2026?

While no official product announcement has been made yet, several clues and leaks point to what the keynote might cover.

Smart glasses, the absolute priority of this edition

Smart glasses are expected to take center stage in the presentation. Several rumors point to a new generation of Ray-Ban Meta, more autonomous and smarter, available in two versions: one for classic sunglasses, another for prescription lenses. Meta is also reportedly working on a more premium model, internally codenamed "Phoenix," priced between $1,000 and $2,000.

Another hot topic: the Ray-Ban Meta Display, which feature a built-in screen. Their international rollout remains on hold, as Meta has chosen to prioritize orders in the US. A clarification on the European timeline could be announced at the event. To follow the evolution of this ecosystem, our article on the Meta Horizon OS software platform traces the technical foundations behind these new devices.

Here are the main updates expected for smart glasses:

• Longer battery life and faster AI thanks to Muse Spark
• New live translation features, with 14 additional languages
• Voice-guided pedestrian navigation for screenless models
• A broader price range, from an entry-level model to the premium "Phoenix"
• Enhanced anti-tampering protection on the built-in camera

VR headsets: what's next for the Quest lineup?

Unlike glasses, the VR headset segment is expected to stay low-key this year. The Meta Quest 4 has been pushed back to 2027 and positioned as a flagship headset focused on gaming. The long-awaited ultralight headset, with an offloaded compute puck, appears to be following the same path. In short, 2026 will be a year without a new flagship headset from Meta — a strategic choice that gives the company time to rework the form factor, weight, and comfort of its future products. To better understand how the current lineup has evolved, check out our dedicated article on the Meta Quest 3, its specs and latest updates.

Some observers still expect a first glimpse of this "Ultralight Quest" during the keynote, without a specific release date.

Meta Connect 2026: key information to remember

Beyond the hardware, several pieces of context help explain what's at stake in this edition.

Meta is heavily betting on Muse Spark, its first multimodal AI model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, presented as the first step toward "personal superintelligence." This model already powers smart glasses and could get more attention during the keynote, particularly for its professional use cases with Llama 5 Enterprise.

Strategically, Meta announced in early 2026 a shift for its VR division toward software quality rather than a flood of hardware announcements. Horizon Worlds has also been officially discontinued on VR, a strong signal of the group's gradual pullback from the "pure" metaverse in favor of AI and wearables.

| To learn more, check out our article "Meta abandons the metaverse"

Finally, the European regulatory context could influence some announcements. The full entry into force of the AI Act in August 2026 complicates the rollout of display-equipped glasses on the continent, with AI features potentially scaled back compared to the US version.

Our predictions for Meta Connect 2026

Based on trends observed in recent months, here's what we expect from this edition:

• An AI-focused keynote, with smart glasses as the showcase product
• Little to no new VR headset announced, with pure VR relegated to developer sessions
• A clarification of the European timeline for Ray-Ban Meta Display
• New capabilities for Muse Spark, particularly around translation and contextual assistance
• An ambitious message about the "next computing platform," positioning glasses as the future primary device