Apple’s headset will be powered by a new platform, called xrOS, with the official font and marketing styling revealed in a new trademark filing.
- Apple has registered the “xrOS” wordmark, including the official font and accompanying styling, ahead of the rumored AR/VR headset reveal at WWDC.
- It already registered the “xrOS” trademark, so this is yet another solid proof that xrOS will be the official name of its new software platform for the headset.
- “xr” is apparently a reference to “extended reality,” which encompasses both virtual and augmented reality. Apple’s head-worn device is said to feature a Digital Crown-like dial for seamless switching between the real world and AR/VR.
Apple protects “xrOS” wordmark ahead of upcoming reveal
Parker Ortolani on Twitter shared Apple’s new xrOS wordmark filing, submitted earlier via a shell company with the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office.
The trademark application doesn’t just confirm the xrOS name but also reveals marketing styling. It shows Apple will use its San Fransisco typeface in xrOS marketing. That’s the same typeface used for the macOS, iOS, watchOS and tvOS wordmarks, as well as throughout Apple’s operating systems, in advertising, etc.
Apple in December 2022 trademarked xrOS in several countries, including New Zealand, where it used the same shell company as today’s filing.
A post-iPhone device?
The rumored headset, in development for at least five years, represents Apple’s big bet for a post-iPhone future where people are supposed to connect, share, work and play remotely using AR and VR technologies and really more on head-worn devices like AR glasses and headsets than smartphones.
The first version of the headset is said to feature 8K displays, custom chips and a bevy of internal, external cameras for eye and hand tracking, etc. It will reportedly resemble ski goggles, be very lightweight and rely on an external battery pack in a user’s pocket, magnetically connected to the headset.
The headset is “so good”
Palmer Luckey, who founded Oculus and is regarded as the father of modern VR, said on Twitter that “the Apple headset is so good.” That’s the whole tweet; he wouldn’t say more in replies and follow-up tweets.
The Apple headset is so good.
— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) May 14, 2023
Luckey may be trolling people, it wouldn’t be his first time, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in this particular instance. Luckey founded Oculus and saw it acquired by Facebook in 2014. Three years later, he left the company to establish a defense technology company called Andruil Industries.
Apple “well prepared’ for headset unveiling at WWDC
According to revered Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the company is “highly likely” to announce the headset at WWDC. It’s expected to be the central theme of the weeklong developer-only event, running June 5-9. The iPhone maker is “well prepared” for the headset announcement, the analyst wrote on Medium.
The entire VR market should benefit from Apple’s involvement, Kuo said.
The most expensive material costs are the micro-OLED displays (Sony), M2-like chips (TSMC), twelve cameras for eye and hand tracking (Cowell), the casing (Everwin Precision) and the external power supply (Goretek).
Apple should detail xrOS at WWDC and share tools for developers to build third-party apps for the device before its supposed fall launch. The product is said to run existing iPad apps on the App Store with little or no modification, but Apple will also provide AR/VR versions of its own apps, like FaceTime.