Maybe the Metaverse isn’t dead after all.
Apple is usually at the forefront of technology but has yet to publily dabble into the world of mixed reality and the metaverse, despite other major tech players, such as Meta, having already created their own variations of VR headsets.
Still, rumors have circulated for months that something is in the works at Apple about the possibility (or rather, the inevitability) of what its debut foray into the metaverse will look like.
Now, that question might be answered. According to trademark patents, it appears Apple has registered for its first mixed-reality operating system, which will be called xrOS.
The trademark was first noticed by a Twitter user who provided screenshots of the filing made with the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office.
holy shit! Apple trademarked (via a shell corp) an “xrOS” word mark in SF Pro in New Zealand just last week pic.twitter.com/Ow274yyuBU
— Parker Ortolani (@ParkerOrtolani) May 16, 2023
“holy sh*t! Apple trademarked (via a shell corp) an “xrOS” word mark in SF Pro in New Zealand just last week,” he wrote.
In the screenshot, the image appears to follow the same format as Apple’s iOS operating system — from the font to the capitalized “OS” lettering at the end.
Bloomberg initially reported in December that Apple was trademarking xrOS, citing “people with knowledge of the matter” and noted that the operating system would work with both virtual and augmented realities. At the time, an Apple spokesperson based in HQ in Cupertino, California, declined to comment on the rumor.
Palmer Luckey, who co-founded Meta’s VR set Oculus, alleged that he tried out Apple’s VR set and called it “so good,” though neither Apple nor Meta confirmed the testing.
The Apple headset is so good.
— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) May 14, 2023
Apple’s renowned annual Worldwide Developer Conference is slated to begin on June 5 and run through June 9, where xrOS is expected to be announced.
This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur
