Apple to rebrand its device operating systems to mark major overhaul

Apple Inc. is planning the most sweeping change yet to its operating system names, part of a software overhaul that extends to all its devices.

The next Apple operating systems will be identified by year, rather than with a version number, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

That means the current iOS 18 will give way to “iOS 26,” said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan is still private. Other updates will be known as iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26 and visionOS 26.

Apple is making the change to bring consistency to its branding and move away from an approach that can be confusing to customers and developers. Today’s operating systems — including iOS 18, watchOS 12, macOS 15 and visionOS 2 — use different numbers because their initial vers