Meta used its Connect 2026 keynote on 23 September to lay out a full lineup of face-worn computers, from a US$249 pair of camera glasses to a US$1,299.99 headset it calls the first IMAX Enhanced-certified VR device ever made. For Malaysian buyers, the more useful line came further down the company's own announcement: its Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta glasses are officially coming to Malaysia later this year.
Meta's list this time names Malaysia among a wider set of new markets, including Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, though its announcement did not specify local pricing or a sales channel. We covered these glasses earlier this month, when the questions around them were about privacy rather than availability.
The Malaysia note covers Meta's Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta and Ray-Ban Meta Optics ranges, not the VR flagship. Globally, the new Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3) starts at US$449, the audio-only Ray-Ban Meta Audio at US$349, and a lighter Meta Glasses line starts with a US$249 Adventurer model. At Bank Negara's 23 September reference rate of about RM4.07 to the US dollar, that range works out to roughly RM1,013 to RM1,827 before any local tax or retail margin. Meta has not said which models, or at what ringgit price, will reach Malaysian shelves.
Meta has announced no Malaysian date for the device it built the show around. The Meta VR Glasses, which Meta announced at Connect, weigh about 100 grams, which Meta says is five times lighter than a Quest 3 headset. They drive micro-OLED panels Meta calls a 5K Infinite Display at 37 pixels per degree, run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon Reality Elite processor, and move the compute, battery and storage to a puck that clips to a pocket or bag. Meta's pitch is cinema: it calls this the first VR device with IMAX Enhanced certification, and it carries Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Meta says Disney+ subscribers will be able to start streaming Marvel films in 3D in November in select countries, part of the same entertainment push. The glasses themselves go on sale in spring 2027 at US$1,299.99, about RM5,291.
This is where the story reads, to us, as a cinematic one rather than a gadget note. Meta is positioning the device around film playback, from the IMAX certification to the Dolby formats to the Disney+ deal, and Meta has said that Disney+ tie-in will be limited to select countries at launch. At about RM5,300, it reads as a luxury item today for a Malaysian buyer. In our view it also hints at where Meta thinks the format is heading, and at a future audience for creators shooting immersive or 3D footage.
The rest of the lineup leans on Meta's AI. Muse, Meta's personal assistant, is coming to the glasses. Meta is not alone in putting an assistant into eyewear: Alibaba unveiled its own Qwen AI glasses at its Apsara conference days earlier. The privacy questions we raised when these glasses were import-only do not go away with an official launch, they reach more people.
For now, the firm points are dates. The Ray-Ban Meta Audio, which opened for pre-order on 23 September, ships on 13 October. The new US$249 Meta Glasses Adventurer goes on sale on 23 October. Official Malaysian availability for Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta is set for later this year, and the IMAX VR flagship waits until spring 2027.
Cover and body photographs courtesy of Minh Pham and Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash.
