Yearly, as Apple’s Worldwide Builders Convention (WWDC) approaches, Mac followers are left with one burning query: What’s going to this 12 months’s macOS launch be referred to as?
Whereas we are able to often make an informed guess on the model quantity, macOS is exclusive in that Apple additionally offers it a reputation. Apple’s iPhone working system has been “iOS” since model 4, and earlier than that was much more boringly known as “iPhone Software program.” Nonetheless, the Mac stays particular and eccentric amongst Apple’s working methods by sporting extra artistic names to suggest every main launch.
The primary 9 releases of “Mac OS X,” because it was identified in these days, had been cat-themed: Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion, and Mountain Lion. With solely so many feline households to go round, Apple switched to California landmarks in 2013, with OS X Mavericks, having formally dropped the “Mac” prefix the 12 months earlier than. That continued with Yosemite and El Capitan till 2016, when OS X turned macOS. The California names continued with Sierra, Excessive Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Massive Sur, Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma and Sequoia.
Apple additionally switched up its model numbering in 2020. The sixteen releases of Mac OS X, OS X, and macOS from 2000–2019 used level numbering, from Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah to macOS 10.15 Catalina. With macOS Massive Sur, Apple lastly dialed issues as much as 11, in additional methods than one; this was the identical 12 months Apple’s M1 chip debuted with a staggering efficiency enhance that permit even Apple’s entry-level MacBooks run circles round higher-end Intel variants.
If latest reviews are correct, Apple will throw us one other large curveball this 12 months by going from macOS 15 to macOS 26, a quantity supposed to align with a “mannequin 12 months” like automakers have lengthy achieved and make every launch really feel extra forward-looking. Nonetheless, it doesn’t appear like it’s prepared to make use of that as an excuse to maneuver away from California landmarks.
In response to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s advertising and marketing staff has determined to make use of Lake Tahoe as an inspiration, making this 12 months’s model macOS 26 Tahoe.
As Gurman notes, the names and variations usually trace on the significance of the software program updates. With macOS Massive Sur, the transfer to model 11 was undoubtedly supposed to usher within the new technology of Apple Silicon, as was the title Massive Sur. Six years earlier, Yosemite, identified for its distinctive rock formations, subtly highlighted a serious redesign of the working system.
This 12 months, macOS 26 is anticipated to bear an identical design change alongside iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. Gurman’s sources say that Lake Tahoe is meant to be “one thing particular” to spotlight one other large transfer.
[Lake Tahoe is] a well-known resort space and a trip vacation spot (and second-home web site) for a lot of Apple workers. The deep blue lake can be identified to indicate the reflection of the sky and surrounding mountains — one thing that flicks on the putting visuals of the brand new consumer interface.
Mark Gurman
Apple is anticipated to present iOS and iPadOS essentially the most vital design overhaul we’ve seen since iOS 7 was launched in 2013 (earlier than iPadOS existed as a definite working system), a change that could possibly be the largest spotlight of subsequent week’s WWDC. The brand new look is alleged to be impressed by visionOS and is being achieved to supply a unified consumer interface throughout all its units. This implies macOS 26 can be anticipated to fall into step with the iPhone and iPad.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]