Apple Open Source Code Hints at Rumored Augmented Reality Headset

Apple has long been rumored to be working on a set of augmented reality glasses, and back in June of 2020, the tech giant actually patented a design for the device. While the company hasn’t announced anything official despite all these years of work, it now appears that the AR headset is about to become a reality, thanks to analysts sifting through Apple’s code.

As Twitter users Rens Verhoeven and Steve Troughton-Smith highlight, references to a “realityOS” can be found hidden in some of Apple’s open-source code through the App Store upload logs recently. Given its name, many have speculated that realityOS will be the operating system Apple’s AR headset will run on upon release, and its inclusion in the new code hints at the device possibly arriving soon.

According to 9to5Mac, Apple is planning to announce the AR headset later this year either during WWDC or in the fall, although Bloomberg pushes that date to 2023 due to apparent “technical challenges.” Since it’ll be the device’s first generation, it’s expected to be “ergonomically clunky and expensive,” and Ming-Chi Kuo says the company has already begun working on a second iteration of the glasses that’ll be more streamlined and lower in price.

Uh what is Apple’s RealityOS doing in the App Store upload logs?

AR/VR confirmed? pic.twitter.com/Wp7XWieeEU

— Rens Verhoeven (@renssies) January 17, 2022

“#if TARGET_FEATURE_REALITYOS”

Well then. This at least confirms it 1) has its own OS & binaries, and 2) has a realityOS Simulator https://t.co/6a25kWshXR pic.twitter.com/RyF5O5gFjg

— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) February 9, 2022

Elsewhere in tech, Sony has unveiled two new Walkman music players.