
Meta
META
The Information
The rollout expands Meta’s footprint in the lucrative wearables market and ties its AI ambitions to everyday health data, potentially reshaping user engagement across its ecosystem.
Meta’s renewed hardware agenda reflects a strategic pivot from pure social networking toward a broader consumer electronics portfolio. After several aborted attempts, the company is now aligning its wearable ambitions with the burgeoning health‑tech sector, leveraging its massive data resources to offer differentiated insights. By anchoring the upcoming smartwatch to Meta AI, the firm aims to create a seamless, voice‑driven experience that could integrate with existing services like Messenger, Instagram, and the upcoming Horizon platform, positioning the device as a central hub for digital interaction.
The health‑centric focus of the Malibu 2 smartwatch taps into a market projected to exceed $70 billion by 2028. Expect features such as continuous heart‑rate monitoring, sleep analysis, and possibly blood‑oxygen or glucose estimations, all fed into Meta’s AI models for personalized recommendations. Integration with Meta AI could enable real‑time coaching, predictive health alerts, and contextual content delivery based on user activity. Moreover, the Android‑based foundation may simplify app development, encouraging third‑party health and fitness partners to enrich the ecosystem, thereby increasing user lock‑in.
Introducing display‑enabled smart glasses alongside the smartwatch underscores Meta’s intent to compete directly with Apple’s Vision Pro and Google’s upcoming AR offerings. The glasses could serve as an extension of the AI‑driven health platform, delivering glanceable metrics and augmented reality overlays. While the move promises new revenue streams, it also raises privacy concerns around continuous biometric data collection. Success will hinge on Meta’s ability to balance innovative functionality with robust data protection, a factor that will shape investor confidence and consumer adoption in the evolving wearables landscape.
By Ben Schoon
According to a new report, Meta is renewing plans to release a smartwatch, but with a slightly shifted focus toward health tracking and Meta AI.
It’s been rumored for years that Meta wants to make its own smartwatch, with the most recent reports surfacing in July 2025. Now, a report from The Information (via Engadget and GSMArena) is expanding on that.
Apparently, Meta plans to launch a smartwatch later in 2026 that carries the codename “Malibu 2.”
The new smartwatch would focus on health tracking and integration with Meta AI, though exact features and implementation remain a mystery. Previously, it had been reported that Meta’s smartwatch would be built on Android, much like the Quest headset.
Meanwhile, Meta is apparently also planning to launch more smart glasses with a built‑in display later in 2026, despite ongoing scrutiny around its smart‑glasses efforts.
About the author
Ben Schoon is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google. You can find him on Twitter @NexusBen or contact him at [email protected].
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