Apple's AR/VR headset is closer than ever with the company leaning on productivity and app integration, a report claims ahead of a 2023 launch.

We've been expecting Apple to get around to launching an AR/VR headset of its own for a while now, with reports continuing to point to a 2023 release. Now, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that development on the headset's operating system is "wrapping up" and that employee moves suggest the company is focusing on bringing some familiar apps to the platform.

Writing in his weekly Power On newsletter, Gurman says that the first version of the headsets' operating system is codenamed Oak, and is already almost complete. Further, Gurman believes that Apple has moved an iWork executive over to the headset team, pointing to a productivity focus for a device that is expected to cost upwards of $3,000 / $2500 / €2900.

"Before joining the headset group, [Yaniv] Gur oversaw engineering for the iWork apps (Pages, Keynote and Numbers), in addition to the Books, Notes, and News apps across the company’s platforms", Gurman says, He then adds that "the headset team already has an operating system chief, Geoff Stahl, so Gur’s appointment suggests to me that the company is developing a suite of productivity apps for the headset".

Other companies have already pushed productivity uses for their own headsets, with Meta's Mark Gurman seemingly betting the company the fact people will want to hold office meetings in the Metaverse. But Apple looks set to push its own iWork apps as part of a wider 'Appleverse' agenda, with the company also working on having developers use App Intents when building apps for the headset. Developers of iPhone and iPad apps already use app Intents to hook into things like Siri and Shortcuts.

The rumoured Apple headset is expected to feature more than a dozen cameras for tracking and two 8K displays, while iris-sensing biometric support is also expected. The Apple headset, thought to be called Reality One or Reality Pro, will also reportedly feature multiple Mac-like CPUs perhaps explaining the high price.