Apple might be moving away from its usual operating system naming convention and switching to a yearly-based approach instead.
According to a recent Bloomberg report, the company plans to align its new operating systems with the year they’re released.
So, instead of iOS 19, we’d get iOS 26. This change will likely be officially announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which starts on 9 June.
The same yearly naming strategy is expected to apply to iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS. Even though Apple’s new operating systems will launch in September 2025, they’ll carry the “2026” naming.
This shift could make things more consistent across Apple’s software lineup and help avoid confusion for both users and developers.