Apple may be ditching its usual operating system naming scheme in favor of a yearly aligned approach. A recent report from Bloomberg News suggests Apple will align its new operating systems with the upcoming year following its release, similar to the approach of US car releases.
This means we’ll be getting iOS 26 instead of iOS 19 this fall, with the change most likely to be confirmed at the upcoming Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which is set to kick off on June 9.
Apple will reportedly take the same approach with its other operating systems, including iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS and visionOS. This move would make Apple’s operating systems more consistent and take away any confusion among users and developers.
Rumors about Apple’s planned big visual overhaul to its operating systems have been coming in for a while. The new reports suggest Apple’s new visual identity is internally codenamed Solarium and will arrive across all OSes, including watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS.
Previous reports suggest this will be the biggest design language overhaul since 2013’s iOS 7. iOS is rumored also to gain external display support and a revamped Camera app redesign while iPadOS 26 is expected to get a menu bar similar to the one found in macOS.
Source (paywall)
