Trademark filings are a bit of a sticky wicket when it comes to hardware. Not only should it cover what the device is expected to do, but anything it might be able to do in the future. So it is interesting to see an update to the Mac Pro trademark page in Hong Kong to include "Augmented Reality displays" and other potential tech.

First noticed by Patently Apple, the update changed a rather simple entry from 2006 into a massive laundry list of what could be covered by the trademark, but hidden within all the verbiage was things like smartglasses, wireless communication devices, head-mounted displays, and home theater systems. While some of these may never come to fruition, it is interesting to see the gears turning inside Apple HQ. The new Mac Pro is expected to have a huge boost in processing power, which could indeed power AR displays and even VR headsets. 

"We have a team working hard on it right now, and we want to architect it so we can keep it fresh with regular improvements," Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said earlier this month about the Mac Pro. "And we're committed to making it our highest-end, high-throughput desktop system, designed for our demanding Pro customers."

"I view AR like I view the silicon here in my iPhone, it's not a product per se, it's a core technology," Apple boss Tim Cook told Apple Insider in February. "But there are things to discover before that technology is good enough for the mainstream,. I do think there can be a lot of things that really help people out in daily life, real-life things, that's why I get so excited about it."

While AR and VR have been making strides on the PC and mobile sides, Mac has been conspicuously left behind. The trademark change could be a signal that Apple is ready to make a move to remedy that situation in the near future