According to iOS 26 and MacOS 26: Does Apple also call the iPhone?

It is the most controversial rumor for this year’s Apple developer conference: Allegedly Apple wants to make a big leap in the version numbers of its operating systems and in the future in years, although one does not want to take the release year, but the following. From the usually planned iOS 19, an iOS 26, from MacOS 16 a MacOS 26, from Watchos 12 a Watchos 26 and from TVOS 19, a TVOS 26, from Visionos 3, a visionos 26. From the version number changes, there is a further question: Plant Apple also a renaming its iPhones?

Intended as a user aid – really?

One of the reasons for the changeover to year numbers for the operating systems should be that users are able to be able to faster whether they are up to date. Do you have an OS whose number represents the current year? Then, with the exception of September to December, in which the year of the coming year applies, one should be correct. This is a little reminiscent of the way in the USA: there are advertisements in the USA: There are model years that also correspond to that of the coming calendar year.

With the iPhone, the user confusion is at least as large as with the operating systems. Why does an iPhone 16 appear in 2024? Why did Apple skip the iPhone 9? What is the latest iPhone at all? If Apple were transferred to years here, it could also be easier. From an iPhone 17, an iPhone 26 would be preserved. However, the typical wording of Apple was preserved, because the group got used to it. Means: A top model for this year would be the iPhone 26 per max.

Confusion everywhere

Rather unsightly: if Apple would change, the iPhone 20 would have simply skipped, which was expected as an anniversary cell phone in 2027. However, this would not fit either: if it were in order, it should be the iPhone 19. However, Apple had already skipped a number on the 10th birthday of the last anniversary device – from 9 it went to 10 (or x).

There are always strange things in iPhone naming. So there was never an iPhone 2, instead a 3G. The 3GS followed the iPhone 3G. Apple jumped from the iPhone X to the iPhone XS (Plus XS Max) and the XS only followed the iPhone 11. So you cannot say that Apple still seems to follow a real strategy here. The best example comes from the Mac area: there is still a MacBook Pro M4 Pro, ie with two “pros”. One stands for the device line, the other for the professor used.