Apple headset references discovered in the new Apple Devices Windows app

Code for the Apple Devices Windows app mentions “Reality OS” and “xrOS,” referencing the rumored software platform that would power an Apple headset.

Tim Cook sitting at a table outside the Apple Park headquarters
  • What’s happening? The Apple Devices app references “Reality OS” and “xrOS,” candidates for names of the software platform powering an Apple headset.
  • Why care? This is another vital clue that an Apple headset will drop in 2023.
  • What to do? Apple has also released Windows previews of the native Apple TV and Apple Music apps and a third preview of the new Apple Devices app. Check out the fine print in our dedicated article before installing these apps.

Apple headset referenced in the Apple Devices app

The first previews of the upcoming native Apple Music, Apple TV and Apple Devices Windows apps are now available to download from the Microsoft Store.

The Music and TV apps have the same functionality as their macOS versions. The new Apple Devices app replaces iTunes and includes device-syncing functionality. It also contains references to “Reality OS” and “xrOS.” The customer experience lead at Havoc Repo first spotted these references, reporting them on Twitter.

Both names have been heavily rumored to represent Apple’s upcoming augmented and virtual reality platform.

What will an Apple headset be called?

Apple trademarked the term “Reality OS” in May of 2022. Additional “Reality” trademarks filed in multiple countries around the world were discovered in August of the same year, including “Reality One,” “Reality Pro” and “Reality Processor.”

The “Reality One” and “Reality Pro” filings might refer to Apple’s marketing name for the headset. At the end of 2022, Apple filed a trademark application for “xrOS.”

“xrOS is believed to stand for “Extended Reality Operating System,” which could be the official marketing name of the software platform that will power an Apple headset. Extended reality basically means virtual and augmented reality combined.

When will an Apple headset launch?

The rumor mill has been expecting an Apple headset for years now. Following a multi-year development, it was supposed to come out in 2021, then in 2022. Bloomberg’s Mark German thinks Apple will officially unveil its first augmented reality device at an event this spring. Some developers reportedly already have a prototype version to create apps that will be offered via a dedicated App Store.

Gurman thinks Apple will officially share new tools for developers to build apps for the device at the WWDC this summer. As far as actual hardware goes, the device should be available to purchase sometime in the fall or closer to the end of 2023, but the thing won’t come cheap—the inaugural version of an Apple headset is said to cost around $3,000. Read: How to force iPhone to always stay in low-power mode