Apple trademarks 'xrOS' — dedicated virtual reality operating system on the way?

An artist's concept of what Apple's VR/AR headset might look like

(Image credit: Antonio De Rosa / ADR Studio Design)

According to new reports, Apple has just trademarked "xrOS" in its famous San Francisco Pro font.

Taking to Twitter, analyst Parker Ortolani shared images from New Zealand's Intellectual Property Office, which confirms Bloomberg's Mark Gurman's previous statement.

Gurman had previously reported on a new "xrOS" in December, likely to be the operating system of Apple's upcoming virtual reality headset, which will likely be revealed on June 5 at WWDC 2023.

The headset's name itself is still anyone's guess, although Reality Pro is definitely the front-runner. However, like most new reveals from Apple, codewords, and development names are very common, so we wouldn't be surprised to see the name of the new headset be totally different.

The trademark in New Zealand continues the string of trademarks initially seen in December. Gurman had previously said a secretive shell corporation named Deep Dive LLC filed to trademark the brand "xrOS" in several countries internationally and is trying to secure the name in the US. If Apple is indeed behind the filings, that suggests it's considering using "xrOS" as its public product name as well.

Now, with confirmation that xrOS is trademarked alongside the SF Pro font, we are fairly certain that this will be the public product name for the operating system of Apple's first new major product category since the Apple Watch in 2015.

🚨 holy shit! Apple trademarked (via a shell corp) an "xrOS" word mark in SF Pro in New Zealand just last week pic.twitter.com/Ow274yyuBUMay 16, 2023

xrOS at WWDC

With only a few more weeks until WWDC, the rumor mills are heating up, and it's getting very exciting for us Apple fans. Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference will be back in full gear after online and more muted events following the COVID-19 Pandemic.

With the likely reveal of the new virtual reality headset and its software, xrOS, this could be the biggest WWDC in years. Not only could we see an exciting new product, but we'll also get our first glimpses at iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS 14.

John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself. Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings. John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019. John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit.