Meta Connect 2024 will start on Wednesday, September 25, giving us an updated look at Meta's product line-ups and projects currently in the pipeline.
Wearables, mixed-reality, and AI are set to take center stage during Meta's conference and we'd like to take a moment to review everything we can expect from this month's event.
What is Meta Connect? Connect is an annual, two-day event by Meta highlighting the company's latest hardware and software advancements similar to Apple WWDC, Microsoft Build, or Google I/O.
This year's event will focus on Meta's latest offerings across its Quest VR/AR headsets, smart glasses/wearables, and AI divisions. Let's go over how you can watch the event and everything we expect (and hope) to see during Meta Connect 2024.
Meta Connect 2024: How to watch
The Meta Connect 2024 keynote, which will be presented by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, will kickstart the event and also be where the majority of larger announcements will be made.
However, builder sessions will continue throughout the event focusing on educating developers on how to build with and for the tools and products unveiled.
Want to watch the event live? You're in luck! Meta Connect is free for all to watch and can be enjoyed virtually by livestream and even from within the Metaverse through Meta Horizon Worlds.
Regardless of which method, the Meta Connect 2024 event will begin with the Connect keynote on Wednesday, September 25 at 10 a.m. PT or 1 p.m. ET. Watching from another time zone? See below for when the Connect keynote takes place in your region.
How to watch Meta Connect 2024 online
Meta advertise that Connect 2024 will be live streamed on Meta's event page. However, it's normal for the event to be broadcast on other platforms simultaneously.
As such, you'll likely find the event stream on the Meta Developers and Meta YouTube channels. You can also watch through previous year's Meta Connect events on these channels, including last year's Meta Connect event, which showcased the Meta Quest 3 and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
How to watch Meta Connect 2024 in VR
You can watch the Meta Connect 2024 event live in the Metaverse should you choose by diving into Meta Horizon Worlds on the day of the event.
Aside from enjoying the unique experience of attending the Connect keynote in VR, these events typically have fun little challenges to complete that will net your avatar with exclusive rewards.
You can register your interest for the Meta Connect 2024 event in Meta Horizon Worlds by heading to the Connect event page or by searching for "Connect 2024" in Horizon Worlds or the Meta Horizon mobile app.
Meta Connect 2024: What to expect
This year's Connect event is expected to unveil a new budget-friendly Meta Quest VR headset, advancements to Meta AI, and even a sneak peek at Meta's future hardware goals with a brief glimpse of Orion — a pair of prototype smart glasses that some in the company have said "might be the most advanced thing we've ever produced as a species," at least in regards to consumer tech's domain.
Let's take a closer look at everything we expect to feature at Meta Connect 2024 in more detail.
Meta Quest 3S
The Meta Quest 3S is, at this point, an open secret thanks to several leaks and early sources of information — some of which have been sneakily revealed by Meta itself. This new price-conscious headset is likely to be a major factor of the Connect keynote as Meta seeks out more opportunities to get its Quest headsets into the hands of a wider audience.
The Meta Quest 3S is said to offer the same power and performance as the Meta Quest 3 while making certain cutbacks in terms of hardware around its optics and design that will draw similarities to the Oculus/Meta Quest 2 to secure an even more attractive price tag.
Orion AR smart glasses
While Meta will be positioning the Quest 3S as the major outcome of the Connect keynote, the company's Orion smart glasses could completely steal the show when it comes to wowing audiences with this preview of things to come.
Don't expect Meta's Orion smart glasses to arrive in stores soon, this will likely be a vertical slice of what's to come in the years ahead. However, Meta's future smart glasses have been building hype behind the scenes for some time now, and their unveiling could potentially cause interest in AR glasses to explode if handled right.
Third-generation smart glasses and neural wristband
Meta AI
Meta has made a major push on the AI front in recent years, and it's not without its payoffs. Meta AI is now available on multiple platforms in the US, including WhatsApp, Messengers, Web, and as an assistant within the company's Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses — more recently it was also added to the Meta Quest 3, beating the Apple Vision Pro as the first mixed-reality headset to adopt AI.
This year's event could announce even more features arriving in Meta AI, including a similar voice mode as ChatGPT's Advanced Voice mode and Google Gemini Live, with some reports suggesting that Meta is ready to heavily invest to secure celebrity voices for its AI assistant in future.
We could also see more about Meta AI studio, which allows users to create chatbots of their own and new information about the company's latest Llama AI models.
Horizon OS
