Apple is hard at work on its heavy rumoured AR / VR headset behind closed doors at Apple Park , but what about the package that power it ? rumor are swirling about the upcoming software , dubbed xrOS , ahead of its expect reveal at WWDC 2023 .
While Apple is yet to even tease the software officially , we know fundamental information about the computer software powering the company ’s firstAR / VR headsetcourtesy of online leaks and hearsay . Here ’s everything there is to make out about xrOS right now ahead of its expected reveal in the coming week .
What is xrOS?
xrOS basically stands for Extended Reality Operating System , with protracted reality representing both theVRandARcapabilities of Apple ’s rumoured upcoming headset that ’ll launch the software package .
With Apple yet to even beleaguer the package or the hardware it ’ll be running on , we do n’t know a hatful officially about what xrOS is or what it does just yet – but leaks and rumours give us a basic understanding of what ’s on crack .
It ’s said that xrOS will romp an iOS - esque interface that resemble the tone of aniPhoneoriPad , allegedly in a bidding to make it easy for existing Apple users to get to grips with . That ’s complete with a dwelling screen with rearrangeable app icon and even customisable widgets .
The headset software system is also allege to include a redesigned version of Apple apps include Messages and Maps , with a software development kit for third - company apps rumoured to be release at WWDC 2023 .
While that ’s not a huge amount to go on for now , we ’ll no doubt be finding out much more about xrOS in the coming weeks …
What happened to RealityOS?
While it seems that Apple has settled on xrOS for the official name of the software system power its upcoming AR / VR headset , another name was thrown around for a while : RealityOS .
The RealityOS stigmatization was first reveal byBloombergway back in 2017 , and for a while , it looked like that was going to be the prescribed name . Subsequent leaks all dubbed the software package RealityOS , and Apple eventrademarked the namein a few land in May 2022 forwards of what was await to be a WWDC 2022 launch .
However , it seems like RealityOS , or simply Reality , were internal codenames for the software whilst in ontogeny . For the final launching , it seems Apple want to go for something short and simpler , withmultiple xrOS trademarksappearing online in the past couple of month .
Let ’s be honest , RealityOS commingle with the rumoured Reality One stigmatization of the headset did seem a bit … much , did n’t it ?
When will xrOS be announced?
While Apple is yet to formally sustain the existence of either xrOS or the upcoming AR / VR headset execute the package , rumours are whirl online . The good tidings ? We might finally be about to see the headset unveiled atWWDC 2023 , Apple ’s yearly developer - focalize tonic where it incline to disclose new software and the episodic hardware surprisal .
The headset was ab initio rumoured to launch sometime in Spring 2023 , likely around April , but unforeseen internal issues allegedly force Apple to delay plan for its announcement .
According toBloomberg ’s Mark Gurman , who has a pretty good track phonograph recording of waiver escort proclamation foretelling , Apple is now pitch up to announce the headset and its accompanying software atWWDC 2023 on 5 June 2023alongsideiOS 17 , iPadOS 17 and more .
Given theAR / VR theme of the WWDC invite , with an arc of rainbow colours potentially rally either the headset itself or the field of vision users will see when donning the headset , a WWDC 2023 reveal seems almost sealed at this point .
We ’ll modernize this explainer once xrOS is official , so head back in a few weeks to get the official partitioning of Apple ’s AR / VR headset software .
