(Credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft is sunsetting the HoloLens 2, its mixed-reality headset first released back in 2019.
The company has been notifying partners and customers that the device is being discontinued, UploadVR reports. The HoloLens 2 will still get critical security updates until the end of 2027, but Microsoft won't support the software in 2028 and beyond. The original HoloLens from 2016 will stop getting software updates on Dec. 10, 2024.
"Microsoft is no longer producing Microsoft HoloLens 2, and we have signaled a last time to buy for customers and partners," Microsoft cloud communications GM Craig Cincotta said in a statement shared with PCMag. "We will continue to invest in mixed reality opportunities with first-party software solutions and services, partnering with the broader mobile phone and mixed reality hardware ecosystem."
Cincotta adds that Microsoft's mixed-reality headset contract with the US Department of Defense remains unchanged, however. Last month, Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey joined Microsoft's military IVAS goggles project and is integrating his military startup Anduril's Lattice software into the upcoming device.
Microsoft still lists the four different iterations of the HoloLens 2 on its website, but the main HoloLens 2 device is out of stock or back-ordered across the web. One third-party site is trying to sell the headset for $4,200, which is $700 over the headset's already-pricey MSRP of $3,500.
The HoloLens 2 uses an older AI processor to make up its Holographic Processing Unit, or HPU. With the headset, you can enjoy hundreds of dedicated apps, have 3D AR conversations with colleagues or friends, move AR objects around in real time with your hands, and use voice commands to open up different settings and features.
We reached out to Microsoft for comment on why it's discontinuing the device—and whether it will develop a consumer-focused HoloLens successor, but it didn't directly respond to these questions. If you're looking for an AR/VR headset that will be supported for the foreseeable future, there are lots of other options, like the Apple Vision Pro or the Meta Quest 3.