With Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference about to begin, Apple may be on the verge of a big change in the way the company names its software updates. It’s an approach that may seem familiar to anyone who’s familiar with Windows 95 or a ’57 Chevy. Bloomberg reported on May 28 that Apple is rebranding its operating systems by using the last two digits of the upcoming year. So the current iOS 18 will be replaced by iOS 26, not iOS 19, when it arrives in the fall of 2025.
A representative for Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.
More Apple name news came when Bloomberg reported that Apple’s next Mac operating system is called Tahoe, as in Lake Tahoe, Tourism reps for the California-Nevada lake told CNET they thought that the name choice, if correct, is “a beautiful boost for our year-round destination.”
Could iOS 26 debut at WWDC?
The name announcements are among many changes expected to be announced at the WWDC event. Here’s how to tune in to Monday’s keynote address, and here’s what CNET staffers are hoping to see in the next Apple operating system.
Watch this: WWDC 25: Expect Big Changes to iOS, but Not Much on a Smarter Siri
Apple’s MacOS Reveal at WWDC: What the New Tahoe Name Says About What’s Coming
Bloomberg cites unidentified sources who say that the additional updates will take the names iPadOS 26, MacOS 26, WatchOS 26, TVOS 26 and VisionOS 26. According to the sources, the hope is to bring consistency to Apple’s branding and remove confusion. Bloomberg notes that current operating systems, including iOS 18, WatchOS 12, MacOS 15 and VisionOS 2, use different numbers since they didn’t debut at the same time.
The company is expected to announce the name change and more cohesive user interfaces across devices at its Worldwide Developers Conference.
What about the iPhone names?
It’s noteworthy that the Bloomberg story made no mention of renaming iPhones. The current iPhone model is iPhone 16, which came out in February. The iPhone 17 lineup is expected to be announced in September, but there’s no word on it being renamed to iPhone 26 rather than iPhone 17.
The new numbering system would reflect the last two digits of the upcoming year, 2026, rather than the current year of 2025, similar to new automobiles. Samsung and Microsoft have both used year-based naming systems.
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