Meta (META.US) 2026 developer conference debuts this week: smart glasses, Phoenix ready to go, Muse AI becomes the biggest highlight Wells Fargo raised its target price to $796

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Meta Platforms (META.US)'s most important product event of the year, Meta Connect 2026, will be held from September 23 to 24, local time (24-25 Beijing time). As Meta has expanded Connect from a virtual reality (VR) -centered activity to various fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), smart glasses, and the metaverse in recent years, this year's conference is expected to focus on showcasing its latest hardware products and AI strategy progress.

According to the information currently disclosed, Meta CEO Zuckerberg will deliver a keynote speech at 7 a.m. on September 24, Beijing time, and hold a series of events for developers the next day. This year's market focus includes next-generation smart glasses, lightweight mixed reality devices codenamed “Phoenix,” and how Meta's recently focused personal AI agent Muse can be further integrated into the wearable device ecosystem.

At the same time, Meta's recent intensive release of AI models and initial progress made by Muse has also begun to attract attention from Wall Street. According to reports, Wells Fargo maintained Meta's “excess” rating before the Connect conference and raised the target price sharply from $640 to $796. There is potential room for an increase of about 19% from Meta's closing price on the previous trading day. The bank believes that Meta's recent model release and Muse's early performance gave the company “a story to tell” at this year's Connect conference.

As of press time, Meta's stock price had risen more than 6% to $708.

Smart glasses product line or re-expansion of a “camera-free” version surfaced

Smart glasses are expected to remain the hardware highlight of Meta Connect this year. One notable new change compared to the product strategy of the past few years is that Meta is reportedly developing smart glasses without a camera. Related products may be offered in two models to make it easier for users to voice interact with Meta AI Assistant by increasing the number of microphones.

Eliminating the camera could have two advantages. On the one hand, glasses can be further reduced in size and more similar in shape to ordinary glasses; on the other hand, it may also help Meta ease the privacy controversy that smart glasses have faced for a long time.

Previously, some Meta smart glasses with cameras caused controversy due to user actions such as tampering with the LED light for shooting and recording videos without the knowledge of others. Meta has recently tightened restrictions on related acts. Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth also said earlier that the company will further discuss this issue during the Connect conference. Meanwhile, Ray-Ban recently hinted that it will launch new Meta brand glasses, but it's unclear whether it points to a camera-free version or a new generation of conventional smart glasses.

Earlier in the market, it was also reported that Meta is developing a product codenamed “Hypernova 2,” which is characterized by the fact that both the left and right lenses are equipped with displays. If eventually launched, binocular displays may provide a richer visual interactive interface for smart glasses. However, there is currently no clear information indicating that this product will definitely be unveiled on Connect this time.

“Phoenix” mixed reality devices may debut and lightweight becomes the biggest highlight

In addition to smart glasses, Meta may also be showcasing a new form of mixed reality device rarely seen in recent years.

Related images of this product, internally codenamed “Phoenix,” have recently appeared in the HorizonOS update. Judging from the exposed appearance, the Phoenix body is clearly lighter and thinner than traditional VR headsets, and the overall shape is closer to a pair of large goggles.

The exposed images also show that the device has a cable, which is consistent with previous reports that Phoenix will connect a cable to an independent computing module. By removing some computing and battery components from the headset, Meta may further reduce the weight of the wearable device. Additionally, Phoenix is said to support hand tracking and eye tracking, thereby reducing reliance on traditional gamepad controllers.

In terms of chips, outsiders expect Phoenix to be one of the first devices to use the Snapdragon Reality Elite chip launched by Qualcomm this year. The chip is specifically designed for mixed reality devices, and one of its focuses is to support lighter and thinner hardware forms. If Phoenix is officially released, Meta may also simultaneously update HorizonOS and showcase entertainment and immersive experiences that match the new devices.

Muse may become the protagonist of AI, moving from a “chatbot” to “doing things for users”

Compared to hardware, another core focus of Connect this year may be Muse, the AI agent Meta is focusing on recently. Meta launched Muse on September 8, positioning it as a personal AI agent. Unlike traditional chatbots that are mainly responsible for answering questions, Muse emphasizes directly performing tasks for users, including sending emails, booking trips, filling out forms, etc., and that some tasks can continue to run even when the user closes the app.

Muse is driven by Meta's Muse Spark model for smart tasks, and is currently being gradually launched in the US through iOS, Android, Muse.ai, and WhatsApp.

Zuckerberg previously described Muse as a personal intelligence that can understand user goals and continuously complete tasks on behalf of users. Meta plans to keep most basic features free, while providing higher usage credits to high-frequency users through a subscription model.

Meta also launched Muse Spark 1.3 this month to further improve performance in areas such as long-running agent tasks and programming tasks. Of particular note, Meta has previously revealed that Muse support for AI glasses is coming soon. Therefore, this year Connect may further show how AI smart devices can be combined with smart glasses.

This combination may also give the rumored camera-less glasses a more clear use case — even without visual input, users can still communicate with Muse through voice and let the smart body perform tasks in the digital world on their behalf.

Third-party developers are the key to Meta's desire to build an ecosystem of eyewear apps

In addition to implanting its own AI capabilities into glasses, Meta also needs to solve another problem in the smart glasses ecosystem, which is that the number of third-party applications is still limited. During the Connect conference last year, Meta announced that a number of apps would be included in its camera glasses, but since then, the ecosystem hasn't expanded very fast. Earlier this year, the company began allowing developers to develop dedicated apps for Meta Ray-Ban Display.

Therefore, even if there is no large-scale update of display-glasses hardware this year, Meta may still enhance the appeal of existing smart glasses platforms by showcasing more third-party applications.

For Meta, this has longer-term strategic significance. If smart glasses eventually gradually develop from mobile phone accessories to independent computing platforms, then the ecosystem formed between developers, applications, and AI agents will become an important factor in determining the platform's competitiveness.

Holographic virtual humans may make new progress, metaverse strategy continues to extend to AR

Although AI has clearly stolen the metaverse in recent years, Meta has not completely abandoned its previous investment in virtual reality and digital worlds. Another technology highlight likely to appear in Connect this year is a more realistic holographic virtual.

Meta introduced related technology when presenting the Orion prototype two years ago, and said it will eventually introduce it to virtual reality devices in the future. When introducing the Snapdragon Reality Elite XR chip platform, Qualcomm (QCOM.US) also listed “photo-realistic virtual humans” as one of the important applications supported by the new chip. Additionally, there are reports that Meta's chief technology officer Bosworth's digital avatar may be featured in the Connect keynote.

This technology is also linked to Meta's restructured metaverse strategy. Earlier this year, after the company drastically adjusted Horizon Worlds' VR business, Bosworth emphasized that augmented reality is still part of Meta's broader definition of a “metaverse.” This means that Meta's future entry into the metaverse may no longer be limited to traditional VR headsets, but will gradually extend to AR and smart glasses for everyday wear.

Wall Street is watching Muse commercialize Wells Fargo's target price increase to $796

Prior to Connect, Meta's recent intensive launch of AI products had become an important factor for analysts to re-evaluate the company. According to reports, Wells Fargo maintained Meta's “overweight” rating while raising the target price from $640 to $796. The bank anticipates that one of Connect's focuses this year will be actual usage data from Muse and the progress of Meta's latest AI model.

Exactly how much revenue Muse can generate in the future has also become a topic of discussion on Wall Street. According to media estimates by Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein, if Meta hopes to generate annual AI smart revenue of about 27.5 billion to 28 billion US dollars through the Muse subscription service of $20 a month, it may require about 115 million paying users.

However, Helfstein is cautious about whether Muse can reach this scale, mainly considering issues such as paid conversion rates, AI market competition, and consumer trust. Therefore, current estimates reflect Muse's potential revenue space in large-scale commercialization situations rather than benchmark predictions.