Apparently forgotten: realityOS appears in Apple’s open source code

by Dlek · 16 March 2023

Is the mixed reality headset coming from Apple or is it just a big duck after all? Some lines of code in open source software that Apple employees have apparently forgotten are fueling rumors about Apple’s imminent entry into the virtual world. In addition to the well-known platforms such as iOS, macOS and tvOS, realityOS appears as a platform in the source code. This name has been in the rumor mill for some time as the name of the headset operating system.

The code that can still be found on GitHub even after it became known, which we have looked at ourselves, belongs to the GNU linker ld, which is part of the developer tools. Apple works in part with open source software, the license of which encourages companies to also deal with it openly and to publish further developments.

Mysterious “Platform Wolf”

This is exactly what happened in a recent update to the developer tools. But the developers at Apple have apparently overlooked the fact that there is a target defined in the large number of files that shouldn’t officially exist. Elsewhere there is also talk of a “platform wolf” in connection with realityOS – this is the internal code name of the headset system. You can also read about a “reality simulator” that allows developers to test apps on a Mac, for example – this is also available for iPhone and iPad apps, for example.

It’s not the first time something like this has happened to Apple with open-source software. As early as February 2022, mentions of realityOS were seen in the source code of a component.

Lots of open questions

However, if you hope to draw further conclusions about realityOS or even the headset, you will be disappointed. The code does not contain more than the names mentioned. All that remains is that Apple is apparently actually working on a platform called realityOS, which is apparently already so far advanced that it is finding its way into the developer tools, for example.

According to current rumors, Apple’s headset will be presented at the WWDC developer conference in June. The first headset, which is called Reality Pro and is said to cost over $3,000, is primarily aimed at developers who can use it to design apps for later products.