MacOS 16: How will Apple call its next MAC operating system?

Only a few more weeks, then the time has come: Apple will also present new operating system versions as part of its World Wide Developers Conference 2025 (WWDC). Among them is MacOS 16, the next software for the Mac. And how every few years does the scene ask a question: What name will Apple find for the upgrade?

California instead of big cats

After the group with the appearance of Mac OS X 10.0 in 2001 named all new MacOS variants to Großkatzen (from Cheetah to Mountain Lion), place names were switched in 2013-more precisely: places in Apple’s US home state of California. There have been a total of twelve different such macOS versions-from Mavericks (MacOS 10.9) to Sequoia (MacOS 15).

As usual, you don’t have to come up with the possible names: Apple had made almost two dozen brand applications eleven years ago that could fit for MacOS, some of them have now expired. The list includes “Redwood”, “Pacific”, “Redtail”, “Rincon”, “Skyline”, “Miramar”, “Diablo”, “Condor” or “California”. One of the terms, “tiburon”, already occurred in some marketing elements (as a pure location), such as Macrumors noted. It remains unclear whether this speaks for the fact that this is now being used.

Apple goes into the solarium

However, it is also clear that the MacOS names have lost in importance over the years, since Apple’s development cycle is simply too fast. In addition to a new iOS and iPados (as well as the other operating systems), a new MacOS also appears. Many users remember the version number rather than the additional code or marketing names, especially since the places are less noticeable than the cats once. Recently there has been the demand to slow down the development cycles of MacOS, especially since changes are often made that can affect existing functionalities of third-party software.

Nevertheless, a lot of innovations are expected for this year. In this way, iOS and MacOS should grow together even more visually – with a new, glassy look, which Apple says internally “solarium”.