No more HoloLens – Microsoft axes its mixed reality device

There’s currently no replacement or successor planned.

Now might be your last chance if you’ve ever considered buying Microsoft’s mixed-reality device, HoloLens. The company has confirmed to Upload VR that it has ended the production of HoloLens 2.

This means that as soon as the stock is sold out, no more HoloLens devices will be available to buy directly from the company.

Microsoft says that HoloLens 2 will continue to receive updates to address critical security issues and software regressions until the start of 2028.

Meanwhile, support for the original HoloLens version, released in 2016, will end on December 10th.

HoloLens 2, launched in 2019, was aimed at businesses. It allows them to collaborate on various projects and see 3D projections overlaying the real world.

This enabled car mechanics to virtually view a car’s engine, allowed construction engineers and architects to overlay 3D models onto real-world environments, and offered similar benefits to other professionals.

While some companies benefitted from using the $3500 device, it didn’t get much traction.

In addition, Microsoft had some internal challenges. In 2022, the lead developer of HoloLens, Alex Kipman, left the company due to allegations of sexual harassment and verbal abuse.

This summer, Microsoft laid off around 1000 employees, some of whom had worked on the project.

The company was working on HoloLens 3, though, according to Business Insider, it decided to abandon the project.

No successor is planned for HoloLens, or at least the company hasn’t announced such plans publicly.