RIP iOS 19: Apple Has Other Plans for the iPhone & Co.
Until now, the Apple community has expected the Cupertino-based company to present iOS 19, watchOS 13, macOS 16, tvOS 19, and visionOS 3, among others, this year. This is all set to change in one fell swoop when the iPhone manufacturer unveils the new operating systems at the WWDC developer conference in early June. As Bloomberg's Mark Gurman writes, Apple is following in the footsteps of Microsoft and Samsung and has other plans. What looks like a big leap at first glance will make naming much easier in the future.
iOS 26 instead of iOS 19: Apple wants to simplify and standardize versioning
As the usually well-informed Apple Insider reports, the company is planning major changes to the names and version numbers of the operating systems. In the future, the numbers will be identified by the year. This means that the previously expected iOS 19 will become iOS 26. Yes, although the new iPhone system will be released this year, the number will be 26.
The other operating systems are expected to follow suit. So if the report is true, Apple will present iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26 on June 9. This would make the naming much easier to understand.
As the operating systems were not all released at the same time, there are currently iOS 18, watchOS 12, macOS 15, and visionOS 2, for example. This standardization will make it easier to recognize when an update has been released in the future. In line with this more uniform naming, the upcoming operating systems will have a cross-platform design. This will be based on visionOS, the system for the Vision Pro.
Apple follows Microsoft and Samsung
Microsoft had already made such a change in 1995 when it introduced Windows 95. Windows 98 and 2000 followed, but Samsung is a more recent example. In 2020, the South Koreans introduced the Galaxy S20, although its predecessor was the S10.
As already mentioned, Apple has decided to base the version number on the coming year. If the iPhone manufacturer sticks to its strategy, iOS 27 will follow next year. What do you think of the change? Did you care about the different versions around?
Source: Bloomberg
