Apple to Debut iOS 26, macOS 26 in Major Rebrand to Mark Software Redesigns

1PW

Apple Inc. is planning the most sweeping change yet to its operating system names, part of a software overhaul that extends to all its devices. More…

[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-28/apple-to-rebrand-device-operating-systems-ios-26-macos-26-watchos-26]

antdude

26? Why not 2026? What happens when we repeat year 1? Wait, will Apple or even humans still be around by then? 😛

MacLeech

1PW Just to explain what is happening better without having to follow the link:

The next Apple operating systems will be identified by year, rather than with a version number, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That means the current iOS 18 will give way to “iOS 26,” said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan is still private. Other updates will be known as iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26 and visionOS 26.

Apple is making the change to bring consistency to its branding and move away from an approach that can be confusing to customers and developers. Today’s operating systems — including iOS 18, watchOS 12, macOS 15 and visionOS 2 — use different numbers because their initial versions didn’t debut at the same time.

GrumpyCanadian

MacLeech The next Apple operating systems will be identified by year, rather than with a version number, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Not just identified by year, but a two-digit year, at that. Firstly, it seems we’ve seen this movie before; like some other big, evil, despised monopolist tried that around 1995 or so. Why, is it too expensive to print the other two digits, Tim? Didn’t we already learn that lesson in the mainframe era?

MacLeech Apple is making the change to bring consistency to its branding and move away from an approach that can be confusing to customers and developers.

Right… So confusing; not just for their apparently dumb customers, but for those many developers who are too stupid to understand version numbering. They’ve been supporting Apple platforms for decades, are largely responsible for Apple still being around, have been good enough that Apple has been stealing their ideas for decades, but they’re just too dumb to understand the concept of version numbers. Apple’s own over-confidence and arrogance will be the end of them one of these days.

MacLeech

GrumpyCanadian Somebody’s underpants are too tight. Please show us where the bad numbers touched you.

It’s a simple numbering change from numbers that currently don’t mean much to most, other than higher is better, but often leaving them wondering what the current version is. Apple has been doing major version number upgrades about once a year for the last several, they might as well make it reflect something useful to most like the year it was released.

Microsoft’s issue of naming the OS with the year, was they weren’t releasing major versions every year.

GrumpyCanadian

MacLeech It’s not a “simple” numbering change, and is a change without any real reason or advantage. How does knowing in which year something was released convey any more important information than a version number that follows a sequence, and details the evolution of a product, including the fact that one is more mature than another? How is it better for all product lines to have the same major version number?

How does one know which version is current? That’s what Apple’s Web site is for. Alternatively, you use your precious Apple device, and tell it to check for updates, and it will tell you if an update is available and/or if it is the most recent version your device can support. See? A simple re-working of the display that tells you your version, compared to the latest bleeding-edge, newest-fanciest version would have been “simpler” and more useful than issuing new major version numbers for all of their platforms, leaving (more) holes in the version number history.

The only plausible justification I can imagine is that Apple wanted to make sure its customers understood the “scary” (that’s an Apple-ese technical term, remember?) nature of not having all products on the same version. So they better rush out and “upgrade” any products that are unable to stay in sync with all of the others, lest terrible things happen.

What’s next, will they pull a Microsoft and insert extra, obfuscated code to make sure terrible, inexplicable things start happening to compel upgrades? No, not honest, considerate, infinitely-innovative Apple, right?

MacLeech

GrumpyCanadian You don’t see the advantage of naming next year’s versions xOS 26 over iOS 18, watchOS 12, macOS 15 and visionOS 2? You don’t see how everyone can instantly tell it was released in 2026? They don’t have to check Apple’s site or run software update. They don’t have to wonder why their phone is at 18 but their watch seems behind at 12, when that’s the latest for both.

Just keep your own personal GrumpyCanadian version numbering system for what ever OS you like to use. Everyone else will move on while you stay grumpy.

Astyanax

GrumpyCanadian Apple’s own over-confidence and arrogance will be the end of them one of these days.

Yeah! OS version numbering is going to be that last straw of “arrogance” that brings down one of the most valuable and popular companies in the history of capitalism. 🙄

GrumpyCanadian

MacLeech Just keep your own personal GrumpyCanadian version numbering system for what ever OS you like to use. Everyone else will move on while you stay grumpy.

First of all, it’s not my personal version of anything. It’s the way almost all software has been versioned for almost as long as there has been software, and the way most other software developers are still doing it.

Furthermore, explain to me how this is so much better than what they were doing before. How does it instantly convey to one of their apparently-stupid customers whether iOS 31 will run on their sort-of-old-but-still-fast-and-useful iPhone 17S Pro Max Super-Duper? How does one instantly figure out if macOS 32 will run on their Mac Mini M7 Pro, or will they throw that naming scheme out too, and next year’s processors will be the M26, A26, M26 Pro Ultra, etc? If so, then what happens when the Apple TV 27 is introduced using last year’s A26 processor? Something tells me they haven’t paid attention to the nitty-gritty details as closely as they should have.

Lastly, when a presenter at Black Hat reveals a massive zero-click vulnerability that compromises all of a user’s on-device data that is already being exploited, and Apple scrambles to get an update out in under a month without any advance notice, does iOS 31 become iOS 31.1, iOS 31 v1.1 or iOS 31 v31.1 (Apple has done each of those at one time or another)?

MacLeech

GrumpyCanadian It’s changing the major version number, which for most developer coincides with a major feature release, but marketing drives it at some point. Apple tends to do that every year. What number a version that happens to be, is totally up to the developer and all of them tend to be on some random number dictated by their development schedule. If they want to skip numbers (Windows), stay on the same major number for a decade (MacOS X), or increment them every month (Google), that is their prerogative. They explain it to their developers, customers, and continue. Apple decided to skip some numbers.

Whether Apple changes the numbering scheme of their chips (like Intel x86) and products (everybody) hasn’t been announced. They may have plans to do it or not, possibly dependent on if the OS versioning scheme seems to work well for them, so why worry? Samsung did it with their phones a few years ago, jumping from the S10 to S20, and the model numbers have matched the year since. Didn’t seem to be a problem for them.

You seem personally offended at Apple doing this, it also seems that you personally don’t use Apple products, why let this live in your head rent-free? YOU don’t have a choice or say in the matter. Ignore it and move on. Go touch some grass.

MichelR

I’m switching back to MS-DOS!

GrumpyCanadian

MacLeech They may have plans to do it or not, possibly dependent on if the OS versioning scheme seems to work well for them, so why worry?

It’s not a “worry”; rather, just pointing out that this is a still-unannounced “solution” to a non-existent problem. Anyone familiar with Apple’s history, as well as Microsoft’s, should be able to tell that change for the sake of change doesn’t improve the customer experience.

MacLeech You seem personally offended at Apple doing this

Fortunately, it takes far more than a questionable decision from a company whose bean-counters and marketing department took over long ago, to “personally offend” me. Are such decisions mildly irritating? Yes. They have lots of real problems to solve; why waste time re-arranging the furniture?

Another thing that is somewhat more irksome is the fact that, whatever the issue, invariably, some of their rabid fans, who can’t stand anything other than effusive praise directed at Mother Apple, will rush in and bend over backwards to present some sort of cockamamy justification or explanation for every change, bad decision or stupid policy, and that, even before Apple itself makes any pronouncement on the matter.

MacLeech

MichelR I’m switching back to MS-DOS!

Hopefully they roll out a newer version for mobile:
https://blogs.windows.com/devices/2015/04/01/microsoft-launches-ms-dos-mobile/

MichelR

MacLeech LOL !!!!

markuswarren

It’ll be interesting when we say a new app supports iOS 17, 18, and 26 😃

It seems that the upcoming updates may have quite the redesign so the new numbering could make sense for what may be a big change.

Personally I’d be happy if they just update altool to use an individual level api key as well as a team one

CommunityMember

GrumpyCanadian How does one know which version is current?

The majority of the Apple customers don’t care about the version number, and they never will. They just agree to the upgrade prompts when they get them a few days after release and purchase a new device regularly (because, well, new, shiny, better, got to keep up with the Kardashians), which gets them a device which will continue to get the latest version(s) with the prompts. A few may wonder “WTF” after a major version upgrade, but as I recall, Apple has a “What’s new” prompt to help those people.

Astyanax

MacLeech

MacLeech Hopefully they roll out a newer version for mobile:

So you have to type:

C:>phone /answer

to answer the phone? 🙂

bjf123

I wonder if this means no more Craig Federighi talking about the crack marketing team traversing the state to come up with a new name for the version?

CommunityMember

bjf123 I wonder if this means no more Craig Federighi talking about the crack marketing team traversing the state to come up with a new name for the version?

Reportedly the team has decided the new name will be “Tahoe”, so I expect Craig and his team to write off some ski trips as “business expenses”.

Donut417

If what I just say is correct. It seems that my 2020 MacBook Pro should get the new MacOS. Which is great because I can hopefully get a year or two more out of it. My battery is still in good condition surprisingly. I do what to upgrade to an Apple Silcon chip, but I also have a little over $19K in student loans out standing. Im working to pay them off. If all goes well, should be done by next year some time.