Apple’s mixed-reality headset isn’t set to arrive until next year, but job listings and personnel changes at the company give a preview of some of the device’s capabilities, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg said in his latest newsletter.
Gurman also noted that Apple’s job listings published over the last several months hint at changes to the team behind the future headset — the Technology Development Group, or TDG.
“A few job listings indicate that Apple is ramping up its work to bolster the device with content. The company is searching for a software producer with experience in visual effects and game asset pipelines who can create digital content for augmented- and virtual-reality environments,” he added.
“We are looking for a software engineer who will work on the App Intents framework to help design and implement solutions to unlock deep system intelligence, enable new developer tools, and facilitate novel user interactions from application data models which are leveraged by a variety of system services such as Shortcuts, Siri, Search, and more,” one job listing for the TDG department says.
The most interesting job listing is one that specifically calls out the development of a 3D mixed-reality world, suggesting that Apple is working on a virtual environment that is similar to the metaverse — though don’t expect Apple to embrace that term.
That listing describes working with other developers to “build tools and frameworks to enable connected experiences in a 3D mixed-reality world.”
“You will work closely with Apple’s UI framework, human interface designers and system capabilities teams — pushing you to think outside-the-box, and solve incredibly challenging and interesting problems in the 3D application space,” it reads.
With the new additions, Apple is also reportedly bringing back a former senior member of its self-driving car unit: Dave Scott. Scott left the company in early 2021 during a time when several car executives were quitting. But he returned after a brief stint as the CEO of Hyperfine, a health company building mobile MRI machines.
Scott is known for his work in the medical and robotics industries — and for getting complex products ready to ship. His involvement could suggest some health applications for the headset.
Gurman also added that Apple recently shifted over Yaniv Gur, a senior director of engineering, to its headset team. Gur joined Apple more than 20 years ago as part of an acquisition that also brought over Roger Rosner, its vice-president of applications and the pioneer of the iWork productivity apps.
“The headset is likely to be priced between $2,000 and $3,000 that will pack a Mac-level M2 chip, more than 10 cameras placed outside and inside the device, and the highest-resolution displays ever featured in a mass-market headset,” Gurman added.
He had also reported in August that Apple is behind the trademark filings for “Reality Pro” and “Reality One,” suggesting that the company is deciding between those two brands for the device. The “Reality” moniker makes sense given the operating system name and existing Apple AR development tools like RealityKit.
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