Meta used Connect 2026 to prove it can out-ship rivals on AI hardware, not just talk about it.
At the event, Meta unveiled a fresh lineup of wearables: smart glasses that drop the built-in camera, a VR headset pitched as a rival to Apple's Vision Pro, and a small accessory called the Muse Charm. Hands-on demos ahead of the wider release showed a lineup that spans price points and use cases, from lightweight everyday glasses to a full VR headset aimed at more immersive work.
The real headline is timing. Meta beat OpenAI to shipping an AI device, a race both companies have been circling for months. Being first doesn't guarantee the better product, but it does mean Meta gets a head start collecting real-world usage data, and mindshare, before OpenAI's device even exists.
Whether any of this beats simply owning a Vision Pro is a hands-on question, not a spec-sheet one.