Apple
Trademarks have been filed for “Reality One,” “Reality Pro,” and “Reality Processor” ahead of Apple’s plans to launch a mixed reality headset, according to a report in Bloomberg.
The trademarks were filed by legal firms (not Apple itself) in the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay, and Costa Rica. Apple has turned to the same firms to secure other trademarks in the past.
The filings have not been traced directly to Apple, but they fit well with prior leaks that Apple was considering naming its AR/VR operating system realityOS, rOS, or something along those lines—in fact, a trademark filing for realityOS previously appeared earlier this year. The company already offers a developer framework called RealityKit for iOS apps, which will likely be the basis for some future headset applications. Apple employees have used the word “reality” to refer to the upcoming headset internally before, according to the report.
Records obtained by Bloomberg showed that the trademarks were filed by a shell corporation called Immersive Health Solutions LLC, which was registered by Corporation Trust Co, a company previously used to make trademark filings without exposing the future trademark holder before—including for the above-mentioned realityOS filing earlier this year.
The filings appear to suggest that a headset is arriving before too long—albeit not in time for the company’s planned product announcement events this September and October.
Apple, at one point, hoped to release the headset this year, but it faced repeated delays due to disagreements within the company about which course to take with its design, overheating challenges, and more. But a near-final prototype was shown to Apple’s board recently, suggesting the long wait is nearly over, and that the headset might finally make its public debut in 2023.
The first headset Apple launches is expected to be an ultra-high-end, pricey device with VR and AR capabilities, and that it will appeal to developers and content creators looking to get in on the ground floor of a new platform. Apple plans to release cheaper headsets—including AR smart glasses—a few years later.
Shipping this more expensive headset earlier could mean that when the mass-market products finally come, they’ll already have an established marketplace of apps, games, and immersive experiences to make them more appealing to consumers.
