Apple’s mixed reality handset project may get revealed as soon as spring and according to a new report from Bloomberg, the company has a name for the operating system that will drive the product — xrOS.

“Internally, the company recently changed the name of the operating system to ‘xrOS’ from ‘rrealityOS’ said the people, who asked not to be identified because the project is still under wraps,” Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg.

The ‘XR’ in xrOS stands for extended reality, which fits in with Apple’s long-term view of what the platform could become. The headset is expected to be pricey and will compete with Meta’s higher-end headsets, like Meta Quest Pro.

The device has reportedly been in development for a long time and is expected to blend augmented reality with virtual reality.

It has been previously rumoured that the headset will have new versions of existing apps like Maps and Messages, which have been redesigned for an AR/VR experience. The company is reportedly creating a software development kit so third-party apps can be created for the headset.

Bloomberg has also discovered a shell company named Deep Dive LLC that has registered the xrOS name across several countries, and Apple could potentially be behind these filings. The multi-trillion-dollar company often uses shell companies to register trademarks for upcoming products without attracting attention.

The headset has been driving rumour mills for a long time and a recent job listing for the Technology Development Group targets engineers to work on building “tools and frameworks to enable connected experiences in a 3D mixed-reality world”.

Dave Scott, former Apple senior manager who worked on a self-driving car team, has reportedly joined the headset team. Yaniv Gur who has worked with Apple for 20 years as a senior director of engineering has also been shifted to “develop a suite of productivity apps”.

If Apple decides to showcase a new product this spring, WWDC will prove to be a great platform for the announcement. Tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts mass shipments of the device could kick off in the latter half of 2023.