At next month’s WWDC, the naming scheme for all Apple products’ operating systems will jump straight to the number 26, according to a Bloomberg report. The names that will be used will be iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26 instead of iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16, tvOS 19, watchOS 12, and visionOS 3.
The new naming is to standardize the names of all operating systems, which reduces confusion among users. This is clearly visible in the version numbers of iOS and visionOS, which are too different. The number 26 was chosen instead of 25 (for 2025) because updates will be provided throughout 2026.
This is a move that we feel is risky but necessary because Apple has multiple operating systems to develop. Just by looking at the numbers used, people can guess whether it is the latest version of the operating system. This step has already been taken by Oppo through ColorOS which uses the same number as the Android version used.