It’s one of the strangest rumors we’ve heard lately, but it comes from one of the most reliable journalists around Apple. It seems the company has made a major decision and will rename all of its operating systems, grouping them by year. That is, we won’t have iOS 19, we’ll have iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26.
To some extent, this makes sense, as the numbers for each operating system didn’t match up. The furthest ahead were iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS, which are currently on version 18. Then comes macOS, which is on version 14 (despite having been released much earlier), then watchOS, and finally, visionOS.
It seems like a way to improve the naming of all systems, associating them with the year in which they arrive. It’s likely a preliminary step toward discontinuing numbers for the rest of Apple’s product line, which could also end up directly affecting the iPhone. Although it’s admittedly a bit odd to present iOS 26 at WWDC 25.
iPhone 17 or iPhone 26?
Although it may sound strange, Apple could make this same change to the iPhone, opting to use the year number instead of the actual number. This is something that happens on most Apple devices, which aren’t directly associated with a number.
With the exception of the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods, the rest of Apple’s devices don’t have a number as a last name. The entire Mac range, all iPads, the Apple TV… none of them have an associated number. In other words, we don’t have a MacBook Air 8, we simply have the MacBook Air.
For a while, there were rumors that Apple might remove the iPhone number, leaving only the year of introduction as a way to identify them. It’s true that the iPhone is Apple’s most important device, and a change like this should be thoroughly considered. But if iOS 19 is replaced this year with iOS 26, I don’t see a better time to do it.
It also remains to be seen how it will be presented; iOS 26 is not the same as iOS (2026), the latter being much easier for the user to understand. Something that would fit with what was done at the time with Macs. If this is the idea, perhaps this year the iPhone range will not be called iPhone 17, and we will have a range called like this:
- iPhone (2026)
- iPhone Air (2026)
- iPhone Pro (2026)
- iPhone Pro Max (2026)
We’ll see if Apple ends up naming its operating systems this way or not; it’s a change that may surprise many. Seeing iOS 26 when you’re waiting for iOS 19 can be strange. The best part is that there are only a few days left to see it, since at WWDC 25, in just a few days, Apple will unveil its new software, including its new operating systems.
