Apple operating systems need more than new numbering or a lick of paint

Apple’s WWDC 2025 event is now just around the corner and it seems that – contrary to what’s been happening for the last five years or so – there are some notable changes coming on the OS front: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that the company is switching to a different numbering convention for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS and visionOS. New versions of every Apple operating system will now be named after the year following the one they are released in, as it’s traditionally been the case with e.g. the FIFA/FC games published by Electronic Arts or the NBA2K games published by 2KSports.

As a result, iOS 19 will now be iOS 26, macOS 16 will be macOS 26, watchOS 12 will be watchOS 26 and so on – a change that may initially confuse some people but, admittedly, makes sense for everyone involved. It will eventually be easier for more consumers than just us techies to know which version of Apple’s operating systems they are on, it will make the latest version of each OS seem like “fresh” software for longer periods of time and it will re-enforce the notion that these OSes are meant to work together.

This naming convention will also serve as a gentle reminder of Apple’s consumer-friendly approach to operating system upgrades: even people who bought new iPhones or certain Macs all the way back in 2019, for instance, will have access to iOS 26 and macOS 26 respectively. Not bad, not bad at all. But…

New version numbers and a refreshed interface are just diversions

Bloomberg’s report comes less than three months after another Mark Gurman story confirmed other rumors – which making the rounds since late 2024 – regarding the graphics user interface of Apple’s most widely-used operating systems: that the company planned a major redesign of iOS, iPadOS and macOS.

As it turns out, not only is th0is very much in the cards but it will include every Apple operating system. There have been various information leaks from different sources – as well as several visual representations of what this GUI redesign might look like making the rounds on YouTube – but we’ll all have to wait until Apple’s 2025 WWDC on June 9th to know what we can actually expect of this “dramatic software overhaul”. Yours truly, for one, is extremely curious to see how operating systems made for completely different devices can be “unified” visually, as it’s been repeatedly implied by these leaks over the last few months.

Under different circumstances, both the different version numbering and the graphical overhaul of Apple’s operating systems could be seen as interesting changes – welcome, even, given how little actual progress every single of the company’s OSes has made over the last 5-6 years.

Unfortunately, it’s also easy to think of them as parts of a PR stunt. That is, a move meant to address the negativity often expressed around Apple’s operating systems, to change the narrative regarding the company’s incompetence when it comes to software innovation and to have consumers not think too much about the embarrassing failure of Apple Intelligence.

If nothing else, this mild rebranding – based on just a different method of version numbering and a new lick of paint – feels like an attempt at steering the conversation away from Apple’s apparent inability to offer something new that’s noteworthy in the modern consumer software space. That would require the kind of smart, out-of-the-box thinking and careful, trouble-free implementation Apple is not exactly known for nowadays.

Software in need of more than superficial changes

What Apple does not seem to get – or is unable to do much about – is the fact that its devices do not feel stagnant just because the GUI of their operating systems has been the same for about a decade. They feel dated and boring because consumers cannot actually do more with those devices, even when they purchase more capable versions of Apple smartphones or tablets or computers they already own. Sure, there’s stuff here and there that gets done faster – various workloads in certain demanding apps, for example – but that’s largely due to the faster hardware, not the smarter software or the operating systems those apps run on.

It’s fair to say that – as a result of Apple’s inability to make its operating systems more versatile and effective – we routinely end up buying more powerful iPhones and iPads and Macs only to find out that, 90% of the time, we don’t do anything differently or more efficiently or even more enjoyably with them. Not really. Which is exactly why these devices feel stale to long-time users. As noted by many, many consumers since 2020, it’s not the excellent Apple hardware that’s the problem: it’s the software powering it.

So forgive yours truly for not getting overly excited about the numbering change or the GUI overhaul coming to macOS, iOS, iPadOS and so on. Apple needs to prove that it can provide value to consumers through its software – and that won’t be down to a more memorable number or prettier icons. It will be down to new, actually useful functionality capable of making a difference in their everyday lives.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to this: consumers should be asking for more of Apple’s software because, in essence, they are paying for it. Operating system improvements – meaning both in terms of progress and support – are built into the “Apple tax” they accept every time they purchase an expensive or downright overpriced Apple product. The company just owes its consumer base better software, period. Come September, we’ll all get to find out whether Apple’s executives are on the same page.