'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

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New 14-Inch MacBook Pro Has Two Key Upgrades Beyond the M5 Chip

Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump. First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...

Top Rated Comments

itsboi Avatar
44 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
44 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
44 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
44 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
44 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
44 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)