Following the news that we can expect a significant change to the look and feel of its core operating platforms, Apple is poised to change the way it numbers its software versions. At WWDC25, Apple will show off iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26 and visionOS 26.
While, on the face of things, this looks quite superficial, it’s really immensely useful. At the moment, if you’re trying to work out what versions of software work best together, you need to work through lots of numbers. The new naming convention Apple is adopting (let’s not forget that Microsoft did this back in then 1990s and beyond) will make life easier for users.
If all your devices are on the ’26’ version of their software then they should all work nicely together. And Apple’s policy of supporting older devices with software upgrades and updates will be a little easier to track.
Apple’s considers products to be vintage they stop distributing them for sale more than five and less than seven years ago. Once Apple stops distributing products for sale for more than seven years they move to obsolete status. Operating system updates are generally available for at least five years with another year for security updates.
So, if you buy a 2025 released Mac, you should be able to rely on that device receiving operating system upgrades until macOS 30 and security updates for another year.
The only area of concern I foresee is for software developers that have built applications that check software version numbers. They may need an update to accomodate this new versioning system.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.