Wednesday, 27 August, 2025 UTC
Summary
According to both CNBC and supply-chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Meta doesn't expect to sell many units of its upcoming HUD glasses.
What Is Hypernova?
Hypernova is the codename for Meta's upcoming smart glasses with a small heads-up display (HUD) in one eye.
While Meta hasn't directly confirmed plans to soon launch HUD glasses, multiple executives have strongly hinted at it, and The Verge, The Information, The Financial Times, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman have all released reports claiming the launch is set for this year.
To be clear, this is not AR. The reports suggest that the small HUD will be used to show the time, weather, and notifications, to frame and preview photos, for turn-by-turn navigation, to show captions and translations of real-world speech, and to optionally display Meta AI responses as text instead of audio.
According to The Information, the addition of the HUD brings Hypernova to around 70 grams, compared to the 50 grams of Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
According to Gurman, Hypernova will be controlled by finger gestures from its long-in-development sEMG neural wristband, reportedly set to be included in the box.
In July, renders of Hypernova and its wristband were discovered in early firmware on a public Meta server, and an engraving visible in one of the renders seemingly revealed the product's name: Meta Celeste.
A few days ago, CNBC reported that Meta is "setting low expectations for sales" internally, because of the cost, weight, and thickness of the device. The same report included interesting claims about third-party apps, the field of view of the HUD, and ergonomic issues around the sEMG wristband.
Specifically, Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Meta expects to sell around 150,000 to 200,000 units over the two years the product will be on the market.
Hypernova render in leaked early firmware.Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that Meta plans to sell Hypernova with the sEMG wristband from $800, and The Information reported that the glasses will weigh 70 grams.
That will be a much tougher sell than the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which start at $300, weigh 50 grams, use an iconic stylish design, and are sold in stores. These four factors are likely the reason for Meta's low sales expectations.
According to Kuo, Meta's strategy with Hypernova is to launch ahead of Apple to establish itself as an innovator, help developers get familiar with the sEMG wristband, and to study how people use it in practice.
Meta’s CTO Teases What To Expect At Connect 2025
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth teased what to expect at Meta Connect 2025, which takes place in September.
UploadVRDavid Heaney
Meta Connect 2025 will take place from September 17, and we expect Meta to announce Hypernova and open preorders for shipping in October, assuming it doesn't get delayed.
Back in April, Bloomberg reported that some Meta employees were working weekends to ship the HUD glasses on time. Exactly three weeks from now, we should know whether these efforts succeeded.