As technology continues to evolve, many companies are exploring new and innovative ways to take advantage of advancements in virtual and augmented reality. Apple is no exception, and according to recent reports, the company is putting a significant amount of resources into the development of its next operating system, xrOS, with the goal of releasing a mixed-reality headset later this year.
It is well-established that Apple follows a yearly update schedule for its various software platforms, with major updates typically announced at the beginning of June during the WWDC conference. However, it seems that this year, the company has chosen to focus on the development of xrOS, rather than a major update to iOS.
According to Mark Gurman, a journalist with a reputation for accurate insider information on Apple projects, the company has redirected several teams that would normally be working on iOS to the xrOS project, in order to ensure that the operating system and mixed reality headset are ready for release by the end of 2023.
As a result of this shift in resources, it is expected that iOS 17 will be less significant than previous iterations, with fewer new features. However, new augmented reality features will likely be presented, such as the ability to point an iPhone at a product in an Apple Store and see detailed information appear on the screen, or even make a purchase.
MacOS 14 is also expected to be impacted by the shift in resources, with several originally planned features reportedly being cut to keep the update close to the recently released macOS Ventura.
Despite these changes, the release of Apple’s mixed reality headset has been delayed and is not expected to happen until the end of 2023. However, developers will still have a few months to come up with new and exciting experiences for users before the device is released to the public.