'realityOS' Trademark Filing Hints at Possible WWDC Announcement [Updated]

Ahead of WWDC kicking off in a little over one week, interesting trademark filing details for "realityOS," the name for Apple's upcoming AR/VR headset operating system, have been resurfaced online, offering a clue as to what Apple may have in store to share at this year's conference.

wwdc 2022 hero
The two separate trademark filings (1, 2) were resurfaced by Parker Ortolani on Twitter, who notes that while both were initially submitted on December 8, 2021, more interestingly, they're both listed with foreign filing date deadlines of June 8, 2022, just two days after Apple's main WWDC keynote. Another filing on the USPTO website lists a foreign filing date deadline of June 9, 2022.

The filings themselves are not labeled or marked as Apple trademarks, but several hints indicate the Cupertino tech giant owns them. The filings are under a company that goes by the name of "Realityo Systems LLC," and as noted by Parker, the corporate location used by this company is the same address Apple has used in past years to hold onto macOS California release names ahead of launch.

"realityOS" was accidentally referenced by Apple in App Store update logs earlier this year, confirming its existence in some capacity. rOS, short for realityOS, was first reported by Bloomberg in 2017 with the internal codename "Oak."

realityOS will first run on a high-end, niche AR/VR headset Apple is planning to announce this year or early next year, according to Bloomberg. Apple recently previewed its mixed reality headset to its board, implying that the product is nearing completion.

The headset will feature two 4K micro-OLED displays, 15 camera modules, powerful processors equivalent to the M-series chips, eye tracking capabilities, hand gesture support, spatial audio, and other features. When it launches, the headset is expected to cost somewhere around $3,000.

Rumors have been quiet on whether or not Apple plans to announce hardware at WWDC this year, but the dates of the trademark filings hint that Apple may have more to share about its vision for the future of AR/VR. For the first time since September 2019, Apple is also inviting select members of the press and has invited developers from the ‌App Store‌ community to attend a special event at Apple Park on June 6.

Update: Since this article was published, both Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman and a practicing lawyer have claimed that the trademark filing date deadlines are actually a legal requirement and that their closeness to WWDC is likely mere coincidence.

Related Roundup: Apple Vision Pro
Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Available Next Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
m1 chip slide

Five Years of Apple Silicon: M1 to M5 Performance Comparison

Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
iphone pocket%402x

Apple Debuts iPhone Pocket, a Limited Edition iPod Sock-Style Accessory

Tuesday November 11, 2025 1:23 am PST by
Apple has teamed up with Japanese fashion house ISSEY MIYAKE to launch iPhone Pocket, a 3D-knitted limited edition accessory designed to carry an iPhone, AirPods, and other everyday items. The accessory is like a stretchy pocket, not unlike an iPod Sock, but elongated to form a strap made of a ribbed, elastic textile that fully encloses an iPhone yet allows you to glimpse the display...
homepod mini colors

New HomePod Mini Coming Soon With These Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 7:30 am PST by
Apple is expected to announce a new HomePod mini imminently, headlining with new chips. Here are all of the new features we're expecting. The second-generation HomePod mini is highly likely to contain a more up-to-date chip for more advanced computational audio and improved responsiveness. The current HomePod mini is equipped with the Apple Watch Series 5's S5 chip from 2019. Apple is likely ...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Announces Launch of U.S. Passport Feature in iPhone's Wallet App

Wednesday November 12, 2025 9:15 am PST by
Apple today announced that iPhone users can now create a Digital ID in the Apple Wallet app based on information from their U.S. passport. To create and present a Digital ID based on a U.S. passport, you need: An iPhone 11 or later running iOS 26.1 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 6 or later running watchOS 26.1 or later Face ID or Touch ID and Bluetooth turned on An Apple Account ...
homepod mini thumb feature

New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and AirTag Were Expected This Year — Where Are They?

Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen. Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...
Tesla Charging

Tesla Working to Add Apple CarPlay Support to Vehicles

Thursday November 13, 2025 8:31 am PST by
Tesla is working to add support for Apple CarPlay in its vehicles, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Tesla vehicles rely on its own infotainment software system, which integrates vehicle functions, navigation, music, web browsing, and more. The automaker has been an outlier in foregoing support for Apple CarPlay, which has otherwise become an industry standard feature, allowing users to...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
iphone air thinness

iPhone Air Sales Are So Bad That Apple's Delaying the Next-Generation Version

Monday November 10, 2025 11:41 am PST by
The thin, light iPhone Air sold so poorly that Apple has decided to delay the launch of the next-generation iPhone Air that was scheduled to come out alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, reports The Information. Apple initially planned to release a new iPhone Air in fall 2026, but now that's not going to happen. Since the iPhone Air launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales...

Top Rated Comments

itsboi Avatar
45 months ago

This is truely a product I don’t understand the market for. I feel like the two products they are chasing, a ar headset and a car…. Are just not game changers.


When the iPhone came out, it was similarly priced in comparison to other less usable smart phones, and had mass market potential… $3000 for AR goggles? Outside of people who use it for 3D creative work, who is this for?

I have trouble seeing these in the general population unless they reach under $500, and even then… I still don’t see the appeal of the meta verse
I have a feeling this post won't age well in 10 years.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dguisinger Avatar
45 months ago
This is truely a product I don’t understand the market for. I feel like the two products they are chasing, a ar headset and a car…. Are just not game changers.


When the iPhone came out, it was similarly priced in comparison to other less usable smart phones, and had mass market potential… $3000 for AR goggles? Outside of people who use it for 3D creative work, who is this for?

I have trouble seeing these in the general population unless they reach under $500, and even then… I still don’t see the appeal of the meta verse
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SamRyouji Avatar
45 months ago
Reality? That means, according to them I'm just living in a mere illusion of what is real, The Matrix
:p
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
arubinst Avatar
45 months ago

I doubt it. I just don’t see people wanting to spend their life in a non-reality, it will get old quickly. Other than AR walking navigation in places you’ve never been, I don’t see use cases that make sense. And you thought people were paranoid about Google Glass having a camera in public, this thing sounds much worse. And no I don’t see headsets replacing smartphones for most people. I mean seriously, replace a small device with a large bulky device that always draws more energy and can only be used if you are wearing it on your head? No thanks
People already do spend a serious part of their lives on several different non-realities. Playing games in front of a computer monitor (or TV) or watching Netflix and other streaming services kind of fits the definition.

Having a wearable makes the experience more immersive. If well executed (light, confortable, good looking with good battery life), it may also allow for a portable much better experience than the one you currently get from your phone. Playing games and watching streaming on a tiny screen is no match to what you can do with good VR equipment. Its just more convenient because the thing fits in your pocket and people have become accustomed to the idea of having other people around staring at a small rectangle of metal and glass. Entertainment is already a huge market and it would justify the existence of such device on its own (granted, not for 3000$... although I might end up eating my words but I doubt it will cost that much).

But AR is even more interesting than VR, in my opinion. And it becomes more useful as it can integrate your regular life. As you said, navigation is one interesting application. How about cooking, where you have access to the recipe without touching a screen, even as you move around in your kitchen? How about working and having instant access to user manuals or technical specifications? How about buying a new appliance and knowing how to operate it, just by looking at it, where "bubbles" just float next to different buttons to let you know what they do. How about driving your car while having a virtual HUD showing you your speed and reminding you the speed limit in that particular road? How about turning sports into a game... you do not go out for a walk or a run... you're running for your life, avoiding zombies, if that's your kind of thing...

And yes, AR gaming might be the next great thing. A killer application. Everything, everywhere becomes a game. Some very clever people may turn these games into learning experiences for children, for example. They may learn geography like never before, looking at virtual representations of mountains and rivers that they cannot visit in real life. Remember what Pokémon Go did when it came out. It set a lot of people (and kids) in motion. You may say that it got old pretty quickly, but that was just one game (and not very interesting, by the way). We're talking about a platform here, that may allow you to turn your surroundings, any surroundings (!!!) into a game or an interactive learning experience. A good development framework (Apple style) and a powerful App Store would probably attract very talented developers with very interesting ideas.

But we will have to wait and see what Apple has to show (if they ever really unveil a product). I'm pretty excited about this whole thing because I have a VR headset (HP Reverb G2) and the experience is really amazing. But the thing is bulky and so uncomfortable with all the cables around. Image quality is good, not great and if you move your eyes a bit from the center of the image, everything looks blurry...

I just don't think technology is quite there yet. I would really like to be proven wrong. Apple usually come late to the party but they end up doing things much better than the rest and showing the way.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
citysnaps Avatar
45 months ago

I doubt it. I just don’t see people wanting to spend their life in a non-reality, it will get old quickly. Other than AR walking navigation in places you’ve never been, I don’t see use cases that make sense. And you thought people were paranoid about Google Glass having a camera in public, this thing sounds much worse. And no I don’t see headsets replacing smartphones for most people. I mean seriously, replace a small device with a large bulky device that always draws more energy and can only be used if you are wearing it on your head? No thanks
They won't. AR is a tool to help solve problems or complete complicated tasks - such as doctors using AR-assisted surgery on heart patients, which is being used today. Just as *one* example.

It's not a place to spend one's life.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Abazigal Avatar
45 months ago

This. This scares me a lot.
The fact that more and more people won’t be physically at a said event, hence all watching from the same point of view, is exactly this: they won’t be looking through their own eyes, but from someone/something else’s point of view.
And what happens if we all get used to have one point of view?
There is gonna be less and less diversity, people will all think alike, like sheep, and goodbye critical thinking.
It’s already like this for movies and tv shows.
I don't see how you can equate everybody being able to get the best / preferred seat in a concert irrespective of everyone else with the loss of critical thinking / perspective.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)