Report: Apple’s upcoming VR and AR operating system has a new name

Enlarge / An early augmented reality demo by Apple, using a smartphone instead of a headset.

Apple’s mixed-reality headset is still on track for an unveiling next year, and its future operating system has a new name, according to a report published on Thursday.

Bloomberg claims that the name of the operating system has been changed to “XROS” from the previously leaked “RealityOS”. XR stands for extended reality sometimes also called mixed reality a commonly used catch-all term for both virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), as well as experiences that combine aspects of both. Let’s connect.

In reports and leaks so far, Apple’s next upcoming headset has been called an XR One, not strictly a VR or AR One – although there are also rumors of an AR-focused device that will launch later. The headset is set to launch sometime next year, though it has been delayed several times in the past and may happen again.

Advertisement Bloomberg cites people familiar with the matter who said that Apple has begun referring to the software internally as xrOS. In addition, a shell corporation called Deep Dive LLC has filed a trademark for the brand in some territories. The filing specifies that the trademark relates to “head-mounted displays” and “virtual reality and augmented reality experiences.”

Apple has previously used shell companies like this one to file trademarks before a product is revealed.

Not much is known about the XROS, other than that it will include XR versions of several well-known Apple apps, such as FaceTime, News, Notes, Maps, and Messages. Apple is also working on some form of a mixed-reality world, perhaps similar in some ways (though certainly not in all cases) to Meta’s Horizon World and the widely publicized Metaverse concept popular with many startups and venture capitalists. Is.

As for the hardware, it is believed to have multiple sensors both inside and outside and a very high-resolution screen compared to most competing devices. It will run on a chip related to the M2 found in recent Macs. Some reports say it resembles ski goggles, suggesting it could be a smaller and less cumbersome headset than the Meta Quest or many other existing VR headsets.

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