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Apple Vision Pro Was Almost Called 'Reality Pro'

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The Vision Pro headset was internally called "Reality Pro" for a significant stretch of its development before Apple settled on the name it ultimately shipped with, according to the prototype collector and leaker known as "Kosutami."

Vision-Pro-Person.jpg

In a post on X, Kosutami wrote that the "Apple Vision Pro was originally called Reality Pro" during the early stages of development, pointing to an internal string, "realityprorealityosdev."

The Reality Pro name is not new information. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported in September 2022 that Apple's first headset would likely launch as "Apple Reality Pro." In August 2022, trademark filings for "Reality One," "Reality Pro," and "Reality Processor" surfaced in the United States and several other countries, filed through a shell company called Immersive Health Solutions LLC, a tactic Apple has used before to keep upcoming product names under wraps.

Those filings followed an earlier trademark application for "realityOS" dated December 2021 and filed by another apparent shell company, Realityo Systems LLC, after developers had already spotted realityOS references inside Apple's own software and App Store upload logs. By mid-2023, additional trademark activity surfaced for terms like "xrOS," "xrProOS," "realityproOS," and "realOS."

Apple ultimately unveiled the headset as the Vision Pro at WWDC 2023, seemingly dropping the Reality branding entirely for both the device and its operating system, which shipped as visionOS. The switch came late enough in development that traces of the old naming, like the string Kosutami highlights, persisted in internal builds and software.

Apple reportedly retains trademark rights to "Reality Pro" and "Reality One," which could matter in China, where Huawei holds a ten year license to the Vision Pro trademark until 2031. Gurman said that Apple could fall back on Reality Pro branding in markets where Vision Pro is unavailable as a trademark.

Vision Pro launched in the U.S. in February 2024 at $3,499. Apple this week laid off around 100 members of its Vision Products Group and largely shut down its Vision Pro gaming and immersive video teams. The cuts follow reports that Apple has effectively shelved the product line, having already canceled both a redesigned Vision Pro 2 and the cheaper "Vision Air" as the company's attention shifts to smart glasses instead.

Article Link: Apple Vision Pro Was Almost Called 'Reality Pro'
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/22/vision-pro-was-almost-called-reality-pro/
In 'Reality', it was the wrong 'Vision'.

Apple had a 'Vision' that people would use this in their homes in normal everyday life (an incorrect 'Vision')

When it came to actual 'Reality' that 'Vision' was simply the wrong one.
It was too expensive and too bulky for that 'Vision' to become a 'Reality'
 
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Reactions: jbc25
I see it fitting to quote Alex Haley

"EITHER YOU DEAL WITH REALITY, OR YOU CAN BE SURE REALITY IS GOING TO DEAL WITH YOU."
 
To a small extent, the Reality branding is still living on in the shipped product: the external camera images are fed through the R1 co-processor, and it’s not a stretch to think the R stands for Reality. And there’s precedent to using alternate brand names in various regions: Apple’s AirPort brand of wireless routers were one of the first consumer 802.11b base units on the market when they shipped in early 2000, but a Japanese company owned the AirPort trademark, so the brand name in Japan was “AirMac”
 
Prefer the current Vision name to the internal 'Reality'. Expecting more products in the AR/VR space and they could be a part of Vision line.
 
Seriously, though, if you get a chance to try the Vision Pro demo, it’s very cool. It’s way too heavy, too bulky and too expensive, for sure. But the experience is really cool if you haven’t tried it. IMO Apple did a pretty amazing job on v1 of this experience but the tech just clearly isn’t there yet. If it was way (way) lighter and like 1/3 the price I’d be tempted -- if nothing else just for watching video on what looks like a movie theater screen.
 
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