Microsoft HoloLens: The End of an Augmented Reality Era

Microsoft HoloLens is officially dead -- so buy one now while stocks last

Microsoft confirms no HoloLens devices will be supported after 2027 Microsoft has officially confirmed it will be halting production and sales of its HoloLens mixed reality headsets. In a statement to UploadVR, the company said it has ended production of the HoloLens 2 device, the latest model (albeit one released in 2019), with customers only now able to buy new devices while stock lasts. Microsoft HoloLens 2 will continue to receive "updates to address critical security issues and software regressions" until December 31 2027, the company noted. The news may come as little surprise, as Microsoft has not been focusing too much attention on HoloLens in recent years, as the company's focus drifts more towards AI, despite HoloLens 2 users finally getting a Windows 11 software update in April 2023. The original HoloLens headset, which will see software support end on December 10, 2024, was launched in 2016, with the company promising a new age of augmented and virtual reality experiences. However initial reception and sales were poor, as was the case for the HoloLens 2, partly due to its $3,500 price tag at launch, which placed it firmly in the range of enterprises only. This included specialist editions built for the US Department of Defense, with the US Army remaining committed to the wide-scale test of its HoloLens IVAS device in 2025. An initial order of 5,000 headsets, thought to be worth around $373 million, was signed off by Assistant Secretary for Acquisition Douglas Bush in September 2022 following successful field tests. The company had apparently been considering plans for a HoloLens 3 device, but appeared to quietly drop this following layoffs and financial cutbacks that affected the project's workers. The former head of the HoloLens division, Alex Kipman, also departed Microsoft in 2022 following misconduct allegations, with the likes of Meta and Apple making the headset space far more congested.

Microsoft pulls the plug on HoloLens 2

Microsoft has axed its HoloLens 2 mixed reality headset and there won't be a hardware replacement, The Register can confirm. A company spokesperson told us: "Microsoft is no longer producing Microsoft HoloLens 2, and we have signaled a last time to buy for customers and partners. Support for HoloLens 2, including security updates, will end on December 31, 2027. "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." So that's that then. The HoloLens 2 was unveiled in early 2019 and began shipping to customers later that year. Five years on, Microsoft has pulled the plug on the device. A representative of a company specializing in virtual and augmented reality applications who spoke to The Reg said he was surprised at the announcement. Not because it is a shock HoloLens 2 is gone, he told us, but rather that he'd thought it had been canned years ago. After all, in 2022, HoloLens boss Alex Kipman left Microsoft. Many believed the writing was on the wall after the device largely didn't feature at that year's Build event. Our source mused: "I guess they thought the tech and materials had reached the pinnacle of what's currently possible while also being commercially viable. Magic Leap is moving to a 'license the tech' model as well. So leave it to Meta to pour in billions for incremental gains and perfect the screens. Then let AI work out how to commercialize it and shrink it." Microsoft's decision comes shortly after Apple launched its Vision Pro headset, with an eye-watering $3,499 price tag, pretty much the same as the HoloLens 2. Microsoft has form releasing products parallel to Apple devices. There was the Tablet PC, which the iPad has since overshadowed, and the Microsoft Band, which was quietly dropped after the Apple Watch stole the wearables show. But what of current HoloLens customers? The US Army has been working with the Windows giant on bringing the headsets to the battlefield, or at least into the barracks. Microsoft said: "We remain fully committed to the IVAS program with the US Department of Defense." ®