Apple is reportedly planning a major rebranding of its operating system names, moving away from traditional version numbers to a year-based identification system. This change, expected to be announced at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 9, aims to streamline branding and enhance consistency across its entire device ecosystem, including iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, Apple TVs, and the Vision Pro headset.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the upcoming iteration of iOS 18 will be succeeded by “iOS 26,” marking a departure from the sequential numbering system. This new convention will extend to all of Apple’s platforms – iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26. The unusual leap to the year “26” for software launching in late 2025 is designed to align with how car manufacturers market their vehicles, using the upcoming model year rather than the current one. This means that if maintained, subsequent releases would carry the “27” moniker, and so on.
This means that consumers will no longer need to keep track of disparate version numbers for each operating system; instead, a single year will denote the latest software generation across all their products. This consistency can reduce confusion, especially for less tech-savvy users, and make it easier to ensure that all devices are running the most current software.
The reason behind this shift seem to be to do away with confusion stemming from the current disparate version numbers, which arose because different operating systems debuted at various times and are now at different stages of their numerical progression. For instance, while iOS is at version 18, watchOS is at 12, macOS at 15, and visionOS is relatively new at version 2. By adopting a unified, year-based system, Apple aims to create a more intuitive and cohesive brand experience for both customers and developers. This mirrors past strategies seen in other tech giants, such as Microsoft’s shift to Windows 95, 98, and 2000, and Samsung’s move to Galaxy S20 for its phone lineup.
Beyond the naming convention, the WWDC announcement is also expected to unveil a significant user interface (UI) refresh across these operating systems, internally codenamed “Solarium.” This design overhaul, reportedly one of the most substantial since 2013 for the iPhone and 2020 for the Mac, seeks to ensure a more unified and intuitive experience as users transition between their Apple devices. The redesign is anticipated to draw inspiration from the sleek, spatial interfaces of visionOS, influencing the style of icons, menus, apps, windows, and system buttons across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.
As part of the broader software enhancements, Apple is also poised to expand the capabilities of its AI platform, Apple Intelligence, including opening its AI models to third-party developers, allowing them to integrate Apple’s underlying AI technology into their applications. Other anticipated new features for the upcoming software releases include a live-translation mode for AirPods and the Siri voice assistant, as well as an eye-scrolling option for the Vision Pro headset. In the health sector, Apple is reportedly planning new AI-enabled health features and an AI-powered battery management mode. Additionally, the update is expected to introduce a new bidirectional Arabic and English keyboard, a digital calligraphy pen for Apple Pencil users, and a dedicated new app for gaming on Apple devices.
