After macOS, iOS and iPadOS, we learn that Apple’s future operating system will be called xrOS. A system designed for Apple’s future mixed reality headset that could launch next year.
Apple’s mixed reality headset has been around since 2015, but its operating system finally has a name! As is usual for exclusive information surrounding the company’s products, Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman claims to have validated this name: xrOS. Where “xr” obviously stands for “Mixed Reality”, a kind of headset that mixes Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Understand that the headset can both immerse you in a truncated experience (VR) and add elements to what you really see (AR).
Also read: Apple’s AR/VR Headset Reportedly Launching in Very Limited Quantities (November 2022)
Nothing is known about the substance of xrOS, but we do know who is at the helm: Geoff Stahl. A longtime employee who is the Director of Software Technology at Apple. This ex-soldier (8 years in the US Navy) is a true “king” of the graphics world and a signal processing cador. As a member of the Khronos Group, which drafts the specifications for the 3D Vulkan API (Direct X competitor), he has overseen most of the graphics technologies for the various Apple products over the last several years. Key data: Apple’s products shine above all on the GPU side – when it comes to mobile gaming, Apple remains the champion. However, graphics power is essential in the field of AR/VR/XR headsets.
Also read: Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1, the reference platform for future AR glasses (Nov. 2022)
According to Bloomberg, the model for creating compatible apps that made iOS successful is part of xrOS. As well as the presence of Apple’s “core” apps like Messages and Maps. Productivity applications from the iWorks suite could be part of it, since the development manager of these programs was integrated into the project. There’s only one more step to say the helmet will be Pro first… Which we won’t do, even though many projects surrounding these helmets are essentially Pro – we’ve seen HTC focus on this one in particular Applications refocused.
A front company to protect the name
If Bloomberg was able to ensure that “xrOS” would indeed be the name of the future operating system, it was primarily by analyzing the behavior of a front company. A real empty shell, the screen company (or Shell Corporation in technical jargon) is called Deep Dive LLC and is owned by… another screen company.
Also read: Apple: We May Already Know the Name of Its Virtual Reality Headset (August 2022)
The interesting thing about Deep Dive, which has been in operation since 2017, are two of its actions. The first was the registration of the xrOS name in many countries, from the US to Australia, from Japan to the UK. The second action was to block a US trademark registration of “XROS” by a Chinese company. And all the files of registration of reserved rights in the different countries refer to “head-mounted screens” that offer “augmented or virtual reality experiences”.
According to Bloomberg, doubts remain about the trade name Apple uses in its communications with the public – realityOS remains an option. But at its core, Apple’s future headset operating system will indeed be xrOS.
Source: Bloomberg