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WWDC 2025 Preview: Apple's iOS 26 Design Overhaul, macOS Tahoe, and Much More
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You should try and go outside more, the world is full of inconsistencies, makes for a better world.Why does macOS have a name (Tahoe, Sequoia, …) but iOS and the others don’t?
Why are some Apple products called Apple Something while others are iSomething?
Why are iPhone models numbered (16, 17, …) but iPads, Macs, and other products aren’t?
I can’t stand this inconsistency.
yeah that's unfortunate for older hardware. But at least on my mid 2012 15" macbook pro it is able to run OS Sonoma. Just as long the dynamic wallpaper is turned off everything seems to works pretty well. I was even able to upgrade the wifi chip which enables the continuity camera on my iphone 13pro and unlocks using my apple watch.One more year for OCLP.
But does it matter? As a technical feat OCLP is great, but it can't make up for missing features on the machines it's installed on. For instance, my 2010 MacPro has no AVX instructions, so the video software I was planning to run crashed. The 2014 Mini has no Metal 3, so the visualizer in Sonoma's Music crashed hard.
Both of those machines are running up to date Linux without crashing. I surmise that Mac programmers don't install CPU checks in their software. Any machine officially capable of running Sonoma must have a certain instruction set. When it doesn't, splat. I can't blame them, the OCLP user group is pretty small.
I have more used intel Macs running Linux than running MacOS, though the Pro dual boots Mohave. With five drives it's pretty versatile.
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History, tradition, marketing & other "the world is complicated" stuff.
MacOS: Back in the olden times of the early 00s, kids, if you wanted the latest MacOS you had to go to something called a "shop", pick up a "box" containing a "disk" and pay money for it before you could take it home and install it. This was kinda a hard sell, especially with the early versions of OS X, which meant users had to learn a different operating system to the familiar "Classic" MacOS 9 - and Apple wanted everybody to switch, not just the Mac enthusiasts. That called for marketing including boxes emblazoned with feline eyes or tiger stripes calling to punters from the shelves of BuyMore.
iOS has never had to sell it's latest version as a boxed product against competition from the previous version - in fact, for most people (who won't be glued to the WWDC keynote stream with their fingers poised over the 'install beta' button) it will just happen one night - or it will be part of the sales pitch for a new iPhone. For the first few years it didn't really have a widely used name other than "the iPhone OS"). Even current MacOS releases have to persuade people to upgrade, even though they're free. Plus, Apple would much rather you bought a new iPhone every year to keep up with iOS - that's a much harder sell with Macs, and even if they could persuade the punters, most Macs don't even get reliable yearly hardware updates.
Apple Something vs iSomething: Possibly, the current Apple management don't much like the iSomething naming - but only a complete nut would abandon an iconic, historic brand name like iMac or iPhone. But, also, trademark trouble. Unfortunately, Apple can't get a blanket trademark on anything-beginning-with-i and since the success of the iMac iSomething has probasbly become a trademark minefield. There were even disputes over the iPhone name (but it was worth Apple's while to fight those). iTV was an existing TV channel in the UK (and probably other places since it's an obvious TV channel name) iPlayer is the BBC... I bet you an internet that iVision and iWatch have been squatted by someone. OTOH "Apple <something-tech-related>" is more defensible (now they've settled with the Beatles).
Numbering: Where would you start counting for Macs? We'd be on Mac Studio 3 vs. iMac 20-something or Mac Mini I-can't-be-bothered-to-count. Or if you took it from major re-designs, every Mac Pro would be Mac Pro 1
As another poster has already said - we're kinda there with the M-numbers which tell you most of what you need to know about a particular Mac model.
Unlike Macs, iPhones have had a fairly regular annual release cycle so numbering works better. They could go with years for iPhones - but from a marketing perspective that would emphasise that the cheaper iPhone models are usually previous years' models, which looks bad. For Macs it would be pretty unhelpful to have the year up front rather than the M-number.
Now, what grinds my gears is the naming of processors as M4 pro/max, where some Mac "pro" models don't have "pro" processors (and vice-versa), there's no way of short way of saying "regular M4" and the processor range ends up needing a silly "maxer-than-max" name like "ultra"...
Then there's the historical gaffe of trying to keep the MacOS "big cat" naming scheme going after "Mac OS X Lion"... Cos, you know, maybe a snow leopard beats a regular leopard, but mountain lions are not more impressive than regular lions
Only wish they would go back to live presentations. These over-produced "commercials" are getting too boring. What are they even using the Steve Jobs theater for anyways?
Q&A afterwards. The presentation is now just an industry standard that you see more examples at CES and Berlin IFA. The older methods were time inefficient and vulnerable to equipment malfunctions.
But they were iconic. Just imagine Glastonbury with a massive screen, and speakers blaring out the music, with the artists sitting back stage having a drink, that's what we have now.
Apple sinking to lower lows every year. Thank you Tim et al.
This is so very sad.
This is so very sad.
Looking forward to this keynote slightly more than normal. Hoping there's some substance to the latest MacOS version but also a whole bunch of bugfixes eg for the local network panel in privacy&security. Regarding naming for a future update ... Los Gatos is a place in California with a name that means 'the cats' ... could tick two checkboxes
As long as they stick with the fall release, I don't think they will, because either (when using the current year's number) that would place them behind Samsung's cycle, or (when using next year's number) they would risk people buying last year's model thinking it's the current one.
Yawn. A new look for the sake of having something 'new' to market. Where's the innovation?
Personally, I'm good with the new numbering...but would prefer the number line up with the year it was released. MacOS 26, released in 2025. Why? I guess this is how the auto industry does it though. 🤷
Personally, I'm good with the new numbering...but would prefer the number line up with the year it was released. MacOS 26, released in 2025. Why? I guess this is how the auto industry does it though. 🤷
Speaking of vomit who here wants Gemini sucking up everything stored on their iPhone or in their iCloud account.
It was fun during Steve era with Big cats systems - mostly everything was more fun with Steve Jobs.
Every keynote was almost what Christmas eve was as a child.
But Tim is not Steve, so today I don’t expect anything fun - I actually don’t care at all.
I just want good products and systems that works well for me.
The fun comes from other things in life, not Apple.
As I don’t need anything, as I know of - we’ll see if Apple releases something that I didn’t know I needed?
Every keynote was almost what Christmas eve was as a child.
But Tim is not Steve, so today I don’t expect anything fun - I actually don’t care at all.
I just want good products and systems that works well for me.
The fun comes from other things in life, not Apple.
As I don’t need anything, as I know of - we’ll see if Apple releases something that I didn’t know I needed?
Meh after last years hot mess I’m going in with very minimum expectations, I expect apple just to focus on emoji stuff like that we don’t want
For the first time, I'm really not bothered. Will they fix some or all of the current bugs? Probably not. Will they introduce a whole load more? Probably yes. I'm so cynical and disillusioned with all of this at the moment.
Que music by Lene Lovich.
The 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference is just a few days away, with the keynote event set to take place on Monday, June 9. Ahead of Apple's big software debut, we've rounded up all of the rumors that we've heard so far about iOS 26, macOS 26, and Apple's other updates.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
A Note on Naming
Apple is streamlining the way that it numbers operating system updates, so all of the software will be appended with a "26" instead of the number that would normally be expected in Apple's prior versioning scheme.
The "26" used for each time reflects the launch season for each update, covering the period between September 2025 and September 2026. Apple is using year-ahead numbering going forward, so in September 2026, we'll get iOS 27.
- iOS 19 -> iOS 26
- iPadOS 19 -> iPadOS 26
- macOS 16 -> macOS 26
- tvOS 19 -> tvOS 26
- watchOS 12 -> watchOS 26
- visionOS 3 -> visionOS 26
Apple could have gone with the year of launch, which would be 25, but 26 also makes sense because there are more months in 2026 where we'll be running iOS 26 and its sister updates than in 2025.
With the streamlined naming that Apple is implementing, there won't be a need to remember separate numbers for each operating system, and it'll be clear which update came out in which year.
iOS 26
iOS 26 is going to get a major design overhaul that's been described as the biggest design update since iOS 7. Inside Apple, the design project is referred to as "Solarium," which hints at what we can expect. A solarium is an all-glass room that's designed to let in sunlight, and rumors suggest that iOS 26 will adopt a more translucent, glass-inspired aesthetic that's loosely based on visionOS.
visionOS uses a semi-translucent interface to allow people to see their surroundings in AR or VR while also interacting with app menus and windows. visionOS windows blend into the background for an unobtrusive look, and on the iPhone, Apple could adopt the same translucency, allowing content to shine through.
iOS 26 is expected to get the floating on-screen windows and menus that are used in visionOS, with rounded pop-up navigation and menu bars that float above the content on the display. Apple may use shading, shadowing, and subtle lighting effects to give buttons and other interface elements a slight lift. Widgets on the Lock Screen and Home Screen will adopt the new design, but functionality won't change.
App icons could see design tweaks, and notifications, menus in apps, search bars, card-style interfaces, and other parts of the iOS user interface could have more rounded corners than we're used to. The floating navigation bars are expected to be pill-shaped, for example, and Apple is going to use pop-out menu options to allow users to expand settings with a tap. One rumor suggested Apple is going to transition to round app icons on iPhone, but Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that the icons are going to keep the same general shape.
iOS 26 has been described as having a glossy or glass-like look, which is also how visionOS looks. Apple's WWDC 2025 teaser images feature frosted glass with soft colors, and those images might give us a look at what's coming.
Mockups that are allegedly based on real iOS 26 designs were shared earlier this year by Front Page Tech, demonstrating some of the design changes that might be in store. A mockup of the Camera app has translucent pop-out menus that better blend into the background to put the focus on the images, for example.
A render of iOS 26's alleged redesigned Camera app, from Front Page Tech
Newer Apple apps like Apple Sports and Invites have simpler, translucent interface elements with expanding buttons, and could also serve as an example of the design language Apple is planning to unveil in iOS 26.
Apple will overhaul its built-in apps with the updated design, plus the company plans to provide developers with design guidelines and assets so that third-party apps can adopt the new aesthetic too.
Navigation Simplification and Streamlining
Along with introducing new design language in iOS 26, Apple is streamlining navigation. Rumors suggest that Apple is tweaking menus, buttons, and navigation to make the operating system simpler to learn and navigate.
Some of the design and interface changes will also extend to macOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS, improving design consistency and navigation across Apple's operating systems.
Apple Intelligence Features
There are several new Apple Intelligence features that are expected in iOS 26.
AI Battery Management
An AI-powered battery management tool will analyze how you use your iPhone and make adjustments to maximize battery life. The option will be able to limit the power draw of apps and other system features based on device usage.
Battery management will be particularly useful for the iPhone 17 Air that will have a smaller battery than other iPhones, but it will be available on iPhones that are able to run iOS 26. It's not clear if Apple will announce the AI battery feature at WWDC 2025, as it could be held until the iPhone 17 Air debut later in the year.
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Article Link: WWDC 2025 Preview: Apple's iOS 26 Design Overhaul, macOS Tahoe, and Much More
Assuming you're not a bot... As you've gone to the effort to sign up, make an account, and then post, you may as well use your membership to share your personal feelings, insights, opinions and expertise. Presumably by your measure, no one can complain about every number one single, every film that is popular, every winner of every election, and whatever company makes the most money. Yawn.
Well, sort of. OCLP will be of no use to any T2 machines that get dropped--unless a rabbit gets pulled out of a hat.