Apple is planning a major rebranding of its operating systems that will cover all of the company’s devices. Instead of gradually increasing version numbers, new OSes will receive names related to the year. For example, iOS 18 will become iOS 26. The names of other systems will also change: iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26 and visionOS 26. This is reported by Bloomberg.
These changes are intended to streamline the branding and make the numbering more understandable for users and developers, as currently the version numbers are different because the systems were launched in different years. For example, the current versions are: iOS 18, watchOS 12, macOS 15, and visionOS 2.
Apple will officially announce the new approach at WWDC on June 9, along with a new interface design called Project Solarium. The redesign will span across all operating systems, including tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS, to provide a consistent look and feel across devices.
The new naming system is reminiscent of Samsung and Microsoft. In 2020, Samsung began naming its Galaxy S smartphones after the year of their launch, Galaxy S20 instead of Galaxy S11. Microsoft introduced Windows 95 back in 1995, followed by Windows 98 and 2000. Apple’s difference is that it uses the year that comes after its launch. For example, systems that will be released in the fall of 2025 will be named after the year 2026, as in the auto industry.
In addition to the name changes, Apple is preparing new features: for the iPad, they will add capabilities that bring it closer to the Mac, there will be a live translation mode for AirPods, an improved voice assistant Siri, a gaze control function in Vision Pro, new features for health and battery optimization using AI. The company also plans to simplify the transfer of eSIM from iPhone to Android smartphones, as well as release an application for games and much more.
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