Over the years, Apple has been working on AR and VR gadgets, employing thousands of software and hardware engineers. This project’s first iteration is expected to be a standalone headset with high-resolution displays and M1 Pro-like capabilities.
This morning, App Store upload logs and Apple open-source code revealed additional references to “realityOS,” the AR/VR operating system that will power Apple’s rumored mixed reality headset.
Apple was believed to be working on what was then known as “rOS” as far back as 2017. The American tech giant is reported to have been working on at least two augmented reality projects, including an augmented reality headset that will be delivered in late 2022 or early 2023 and a slimmer pair of augmented reality glasses that will be released later.
According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the headset will include two M1-style Apple silicon chips that provide Mac-level computational capability and a unique experience that includes smooth switching between AR and VR modes.
The AR/VR headset will be powered by a new operating system known as “rOS,” which stands for Reality Operating System. The “rOS” is expected to power Apple’s augmented reality headset, just as tvOS, macOS, and watchOS do for Apple TV, Macs, and Apple Watch. The AR/VR operating system is internally called “Oak.”
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple intends to develop an App Store for the headgear, with a focus on gaming, streaming video content, and video conferencing. Bloomberg refers to it as an “all-encompassing 3-D digital environment” for gaming, media consumption, and communication.
Bloomberg maintained that Apple’s long-rumored AR/VR headset may be delayed until 2023 due to problems encountered throughout the development process. Apple’s AR/VR headset was rumored to be coming out in 2022, possibly at WWDC in June, but there are still certain development concerns that Apple needs to work out.
Ming-Chi Kuo said in January that the headset might be released later this year and that a second model could be released in 2024. Wi-Fi, 3D sensing cameras, and power comparable to the M1 CPU seen in the MacBook Air with M1 and 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 are also rumored.
