According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s new “realityOS” for its rumored AR/MR headset is almost ready to go, and the company is looking toward hiring new developers to produce content for the headset.
While recent reports indicate Apple is being “very deliberate” concerning its hiring practices, Gurman stated that the tech giant is still looking to bring people onboard for the new mixed-reality headset.
Gurman Predicts realityOS Will be Ready for Apple AR/MR Headset Release
Within Mark Gurman’s recent Power On newsletter, the Bloomberg analyst informs readers that realityOS is almost ready for Apple’s highly-rumored headset. Codenamed Oak, the OS is “wrapping up internally” and will likely be ready for the new hardware arriving next year.
According to Gurman, current rumors around the new Apple device include the machine packing the M2 chip, as well as “more than 10 cameras placed outside and inside the device”. Additionally, the new headset from Apple is likely to contain “the highest resolution display ever featured in a mass-market headset”.
Furthermore, Gurman also stated that the new realityOS will feature “mixed-reality” versions of core Apple apps. This includes Messages, Maps and FaceTime. There is also reports that Apple is looking toward an official name for the headset, with trademark filings suggesting the company is deciding between “Reality One” and “Reality Pro”.
Getting the Developers Back Together
With current reports indicating that Apple is being “very deliberate” concerning its hiring strategy, the company is still looking for employees to help produce content for the new headset. According to job listings spotted by Gurman, Apple is looking for software producers that have experience in “visual effects and game asset pipelines”. These producers would need to be able to produce content for “augmented- and virtual-reality environments”.
Apple is also potentially looking for developers capable of developing 3D content that can be played in virtual reality. According to Gurman, Apple’s 2020 acquisition of NextVR will help Cupertino partner with both professional sports leagues and artists to help transmit VR content to the new headset. Gurman also stated that Apple is also looking for developers that can focus on development tools, citing that Apple wants to use the App Intents framework, which can pair apps alongside features such as Siri or Shortcuts.
“We are looking for a software engineer who will work on the App Intents framework to help design and implement solutions to unlock deep system intelligence, enable new developer tools, and facilitate novel user interactions from application data models which are leveraged by a variety of system services such as Shortcuts, Siri, Search, and more,” one job listing for the TDG department says.
Gurman notes that it is rather interesting that Apple is potentially looking toward “the development of a 3D mixed-reality world”. Potentially a rival to the Metaverse, Gurman noted that a recent marketing chief explicitly stated they would not reference the Metaverse by name.
Further Rumors
Along with looking to hire more developers for the headset project, Apple also brought in two new additions to the AR/MR headset management team. These new additions include Dave Scott, who was a former senior members of the self-driving car unit, as well as Dan Riccio, who reports directly to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. Additionally, Apple’s vice president of AR/VR Mike Rockwell also oversees the project.
Lastly, Gurman also notes that senior director of engineering Yaniv Gur is joining the headset team. With over 20 years of experience at Apple, Gur is responsible for overseeing engineering on several iWork apps, such as Keynote, Pages and Numbers.
As time looms ever closer to the release of Apple’s new headset, rumors will continue to spread. Right now, in addition to Gurman’s predictions, there is also rumors that the first AR/MR headset from Apple will primarily be for developers and users with more experience. Additionally, mass production of the headset should begin in March 2023 thanks to Pegatron, and the device may feature iris-scanning.
What do you think about Apple’s new AR/MR headset arriving next year? Let us know in the comments.