Apple has already shared the device with a small number of high-profile software developers for testing, letting them get started on third-party apps. The device’s operating system, dubbed “Borealis” inside the company, will be publicly named xrOS.
Bloomberg
With the current plan, Apple could introduce the device to consumers — likely under the name Reality Pro — and then get developers up to speed on its software features in June. On this timeline, the company would then ship the product later in the fall of 2023.
What to make of Apple being so caught up in the launch of an AR product, admittedly a couple of years behind schedule, that it might impact updates to its bread and butter products? AR is inevitable; VR is not. That’s about as much as you can say about a product that should be within reach of half of the world’s population (where smartphones go so goes AR). No one is clamoring for AR/VR/XR experiences. And maybe it is true, sometimes people don’t know what they want until they get it, but it’s not like AR is coming out of nowhere. It’s pretty easy to define.
The provocative take would be that AR puts the digital display where the viewer is and frees them from static/installed monitor and screens. AR is inevitable.
