The first new product category for Apple since the Apple Watch, the mixed-reality headset is ramping up development, and accompanying software has been renamed in anticipation of an upcoming release. According to people with knowledge of the matter, the company plans to introduce the headset next year along with an operating system and app store.
They asked not to be identified because the project is still under wraps, but the company recently changed the name of its operating system to “xrOS” from “realityOS.”
‘Mixed reality’ is the name of the new software. The term “XR” stands for extended reality, which includes virtual and augmented reality. While augmented reality overlays graphics and virtual information on top of the real world, virtual reality is an all-encompassing experience.
With Apple’s foray into the metaverse, it sets up a showdown with Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Facebook and Instagram, and is betting on it to reduce its reliance on Apple devices. It’s part of Apple’s perennial search for its “next big thing.” With the Apple Watch, released in 2015, the company turned its wearables business into a business that generated more than 10% of its sales – $41.2 billion in the last fiscal year.
No comment from Apple, which is based in Cupertino, California.
The mixed-reality operating system will feature new versions of core apps, like Messages and Maps, and a software development kit that third parties can use to make their own apps and games, Bloomberg News reports. In TDG, a secretive unit led by executive Mike Rockwell, the headset and its operating system and apps are developed. Geoff Stahl, a senior engineering manager at Apple with nearly 24 years of experience in gaming and graphics software, has overseen the operating system’s development.
A recent job listing revealed that Apple is building its own mixed-reality world in 3D. In people with knowledge of the company’s plans, it’s said it’ll offer virtual collaboration tools and a VR version of FaceTime, competing with Zoom and Meta’s Horizon Workrooms. To work on the headset, Apple hired the head of engineering for its iWork productivity apps, Notes app, and Apple News.
When Apple started developing the operating system seven years ago, it was called “realityOS” – or “rOS.” The company recently renamed it “xrOS.” Unlike “reality,” the new name could help Apple claw its way into mixed reality.
Deep Dive LLC, a secretive shell corporation, filed trademark applications for “xrOS” in numerous countries internationally and is trying to secure the name in the US. That suggests Apple’s considering using “xrOS” as its public product name as well if they’re behind the filings.
In March, Deep Dive, registered by yet another shell company, applied for the name in Switzerland. Recent expansions include the UK, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Ukraine, Philippines, Australia, Japan, Canada, and the European Union. An unrelated Chinese company filed a trademark application for the xrOS name in March. Deep Dive’s lawyer filed an opposition in September.
As part of the trademark claim, the shell company claims “head-mounted displays” and devices that provide “virtual reality and augmented reality experiences.” Last year, the same classifications were used to trademark the name “realityOS.”
It’s Apple’s usual strategy for establishing a brand to trademark a name in several foreign countries, but starting in Switzerland is a bit odd. Typically, Apple files for trademarks in countries like Jamaica, Liechtenstein, or Trinidad and Tobago, where public records aren’t easily accessible.
The iPhone 14 Pro has been trademarked as “Dynamic Island” in Jamaica. Its applications for “Reality One” and “Reality Pro” – possible names for the headset – are also online, as is the one for “realityOS.” Apple was behind both, according to people familiar with the matter.
It’s not a guarantee Apple won’t eventually go with “realityOS” or another name.
Apple wouldn’t be the first to use the name “xrOS.” Meta had a team of about 300 engineers working on a mixed-reality OS called that. However, it doesn’t seem to be that company.
In the last few years, Apple CEO Tim Cook has talked about augmented reality, and the company has built a platform called ARKit that lets apps run on iPhones and iPads.
For its first device in the space, it’s expected to be far more expensive than existing mainstream competitors and to have ultra-high-resolution screens for VR and external cameras for augmented reality. Besides hand tracking, it’ll have a processor based on the M2 chip from Apple’s latest Macs.
It was announced earlier this year that Apple’s board of directors would preview the device.
