Apple has filed new trademarks that could be related to its rumored mixed-reality (MR) headset, including “Reality One,” “Reality Pro” and “Reality Processor.”
- What’s happening? Apple has applied for some new trademarks related to its rumored MR headset, using a shell company to cover its tracks.
- Why care? With such discoveries, what was once a heavily rumored accessory plagued with development issues is now much closer to becoming the real deal.
- What to do? You’ll want to follow Apple’s September 7 keynote. The company isn’t expected to announce a headset at an iPhone event, but you never know…
3 new Apple headset trademarks
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman found four new trademark applications filed in several countries under a shell company named “Immersive Health Solutions, LLC,” based in Delaware, the same firm Apple previously used to claim various brand names.
Gurman found four trademark applications for the names “Reality One,” “Reality Pro” and “Reality Processor” in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Costa Rica and Uruguay.
PatentlyApple speculates the trademarks suggest an Apple-branded headset could be made with leather or that it might provide health/fitness features.
It’s normal practice for companies who like to keep their surprise products secret for as long as possible to use law firms when protecting their trademark names.
Remember “RealityOS”?
This isn’t the first time we suspected Apple’s headset could use “Reality” branding. Earlier in 2022, for example, a trademark application for “realityOS” surfaced in the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s public-facing databases. The same term was later found in App Store upload logs and GitHub.
Apple’s headset is expected to land sometime next year.
A powerful, standalone device
It’s expected to be a sophisticated product with cutting-edge technology and a price tag to match, aimed primarily at developers.
Imagine a standalone device powered by custom chips and featuring dual 8K OLED displays along with a third 1080p OLED screen.
It could use a system of mirrors and prism to provide a see-through mode and include a bunch of internal and external cameras to provide precise eye tracking to use in foveated rendering, hand tracking, air gestures and other ways to interact with content in augmented reality.
The rumors paint a picture of an ultra-lightweight device capable of operating on its own, with its own operating system and an app store for augmented reality apps.
One pricey headset
But all that power and custom hardware won’t come cheap, with some estimates putting the retail price between $2,500 and $3,000.
On the other hand, Apple probably won’t market this gadget as a mass-market device because it should be primarily aimed at developers. Of course, more affordable versions may arrive at a later stage “Reality One” and “Reality Pro”?).
The iPhone maker is also rumored to be working on a pair of inexpensive augmented reality glasses. Read: New to Mac? Learn the basics of Mission Control