According to a Bloomberg report, Apple recently changed the name of the operating system to “xrOS” from “realityOS.”
Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg said that the company plans to introduce the headset along with a dedicated operating system and app store for third-party software.
The new name is reportedly a reference to the headset’s mixed-reality capabilities, with XR referring to extended reality, a catchall term for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
Apple’s new headset is unusual in offering both VR and AR capabilities. Most current headsets offer either one or the other. Although Meta’s Quest Pro headset is also mixed-reality.
While Apple has refused to confirm the development of the headset, Bloomberg reported that the device is being developed in-house by the Technology Development Group, a secretive unit within Apple, with the operating system overseen by Apple senior engineering manager Geoff Stahl.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, Apple’s plans have said that the device will offer virtual collaboration tools and a VR version of FaceTime.
While the headset will be Apple’s first device of this kind, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has spoken about his interest in augmented reality and the company did already create a platform called ARKit that allows iPhones and iPads to run AR apps.