A form of official clues regarding Apple’s plans for building a mixed AR/VR headset has been unearthed through code found in the company’s App Store.
While it’s been more or less confirmed that Apple is dabbling in AR and BR technology, and may reveal a headset as soon as this year, executives at the tech giant have been incredibly reticent on both details or any form of acknowledgement. The closest we’ve got is CEO Tim Cook commenting on the state of AR and VR technology as a whole and how he’d like to see the technology implemented into Apple devices in the (wink, wink) near future. I suppose secrecy is as good a strategy as any other when it comes to revealing new products; no need to spur competitors into quick action by revealing one’s cards ahead of time, right? At any rate, there’s been a lot of buzz, some sly nods from employees, a whole bunch of rumors, and we now finally have real, tangible proof that Apple is in fact planning the release of a headset. What’s more is that the headset’s release date may not be as far ahead into the future as many other individuals have previously speculated.
The App Store is built to accommodate applications for Apple products across the board. Instead of limiting itself to iPhones, the App Store can download products for iPads and Apple Watches as well, even harboring certain apps that will only work for certain devices. Now, it only speaks to reason that Apple would like to continue its streak of housing all necessary and frivolous apps for different platforms under one roof. In fact, we’re absolutely certain that this is the case because of a new update that had been received. A few programmers sifting through code on the App Store found a term being repeated in the store’s upload logs, referring to something by the name of “realityOS”. Now, while that in and of itself is already interesting enough to incite conversation, what’s even more enticing is the fact that once screenshots of the code were posted online, Apple was quick to remove all mention of realityOS from the App Store as a whole.
So, yes, it seems that an AR/VR headset is very much set in stone for the company’s future. Timing’s not all that bad either, with the Metaverse gearing up to dominate the marketplace as well. However, based on past experience, I’m willing to state that Apple might end up generating more positive buzz across the board.
Read next: Facebook calls out Apple for giving Google a free hand on its App Tracking Transparency Feature
While it’s been more or less confirmed that Apple is dabbling in AR and BR technology, and may reveal a headset as soon as this year, executives at the tech giant have been incredibly reticent on both details or any form of acknowledgement. The closest we’ve got is CEO Tim Cook commenting on the state of AR and VR technology as a whole and how he’d like to see the technology implemented into Apple devices in the (wink, wink) near future. I suppose secrecy is as good a strategy as any other when it comes to revealing new products; no need to spur competitors into quick action by revealing one’s cards ahead of time, right? At any rate, there’s been a lot of buzz, some sly nods from employees, a whole bunch of rumors, and we now finally have real, tangible proof that Apple is in fact planning the release of a headset. What’s more is that the headset’s release date may not be as far ahead into the future as many other individuals have previously speculated.
The App Store is built to accommodate applications for Apple products across the board. Instead of limiting itself to iPhones, the App Store can download products for iPads and Apple Watches as well, even harboring certain apps that will only work for certain devices. Now, it only speaks to reason that Apple would like to continue its streak of housing all necessary and frivolous apps for different platforms under one roof. In fact, we’re absolutely certain that this is the case because of a new update that had been received. A few programmers sifting through code on the App Store found a term being repeated in the store’s upload logs, referring to something by the name of “realityOS”. Now, while that in and of itself is already interesting enough to incite conversation, what’s even more enticing is the fact that once screenshots of the code were posted online, Apple was quick to remove all mention of realityOS from the App Store as a whole.
So, yes, it seems that an AR/VR headset is very much set in stone for the company’s future. Timing’s not all that bad either, with the Metaverse gearing up to dominate the marketplace as well. However, based on past experience, I’m willing to state that Apple might end up generating more positive buzz across the board.
Uh what is Apple’s RealityOS doing in the App Store upload logs?
— Rens Verhoeven (@renssies) January 17, 2022
AR/VR confirmed? pic.twitter.com/Wp7XWieeEU
Also referenced in a config file in that commit is a realityOS SDK, which is no surprise, but further lends credibility to the situation pic.twitter.com/hObg4Fs3It
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) February 9, 2022
Read next: Facebook calls out Apple for giving Google a free hand on its App Tracking Transparency Feature