Though naming it by the following year instead of the release year is clearly a marketing move.

Just to look at macOS version history,

Yeah, I remember when Mac OS X came out. It was a pretty significant improvement from Mac OS 9 (I grew up on System 7/Mac OS 8, dicked around a bit with 9). Unfortunately, they beat that horse until it lost all meaning, and then dragged the corpse until there was nothing left. It was ridiculous 10 years in (looking at you, Microsoft), and was borderline meme status when they finally dropped the OSX branding altogether.

How would you prefer they handle it?

They were doing fine once they dropped "10". Major version updates have a major version number. It was fixed. Done. Why fix what isn't broken? Just because the version numbers of your various operating systems don't match, doesn't mean it's "broken". They're different operating systems. Versioning has lost all meaning at this point. Shit, even Windows 11 still uses NT kernel 10. And before NT Kernel 10? It was 6.3.

What the fuck even is proper versioning anymore.

I'm just ranting into the void now.

I stand by what I said. Versioning exists for a reason. This shit is what happens when marketing and sales retards are given complete and total authority over people doing real work.

iOS 18 > 26 doesn't make sense, but from 26 onwards it's not a problem.

Can't wait for the release of CUPS 26...

okay ¯_(ツ)_/¯

dude seriously you need to chill.

CUPS doesn't have a yearly release schedule. iOS does.

See but I would argue that five different version numbers across five different operating systems is broken. (Ok two of them do match up.)

Specifically the watchOS version is the important one that stands out. watchOS version 1 works with which version of macOS? Which version of iOS or iPadOS?

Also when it comes time to end support for devices, how do you keep track? If Apple provides 5 years of updates, do you know if your phone is still supported?

If my phone is running iOS 14, is that supported? Is that new? Is that old?

The key thing to keep in mind is that the entirety of this ecosystem is based on yearly releases.

Just for "fun" let's look at Windows. The current version is 11. It was released in 2021. So I guess as long as I have Windows 11, I am up to date. But... That's not true. Windows 11 does have a version number that's not directly end user facing. That version is 24H2.

Now the "24" is the year, that's useful. Now what's stupid is the "H2". Because sitting here in June 2025 I would expect "25H1" to be released anytime now. But Microsoft only used the H1 once, about five years ago. Now "Window 11 version 24H2" is better SEO vs "Window 11 version 24", so maybe that's why they kept it.

I beg to differ. It’s not a „putting up with“. I don’t hate modern flat designs but if I was putting up with anything it’s that.

Loved the translucent look back then, still love it now. Am very looking forward to the design update. Especially since the new design is not just some standard windows aero like transparency but actually has glass like refractions.

I’m very glad we’re getting something with a little more depth again, without going full 180 to the clutter of peak skeumorphic iOS <7.

I’m a little bit concerned about readability of text on the translucent backgrounds but on the other hand, it feels unlikely that Apple didn’t think of that…

Edit: typo

kinda looks like those backgrounds Microsoft uses on their mobile apps pictures on the App Store and Google Play

I thought I was going crazy as my phone stopped updating after iOS 18. Then I learned that they are changing the version # to match the years.

This makes me want to get rid of my iPhone even more

I'm aware. Just making a tongue-in-cheek jab.

Did they? MD2 and MD3 look very different from Apple's design languages

That jump at least had a reason, as a bunch of older software checked if they were running on windows 95 or 98 by checking for "windows 9".
And what it actually feels like is the jump from windows 3.1 to 95. Because it's literally the same one.

Win 10 and 11 do also use something like this, though it's more hidden as it's the update numbers - they were yearmonth (1507, 1709) and are now yearhalfofyear - 20H1, 21H2.

Major version numbers are used when stuff changes, and especially when shit breaks. Can the latest OS X 10 run the same software and on the same hardware as the first OS X 10? If not, increase the major number.

What the hell are they thinking

Guess this means Apple has run out of ideas on how to make iPhone better.

What can we do to distract attention away from the fact that we don't have any decent new features?

• "Rename the business unit so we can print new letterheads and business cards?" Our customer don't work here, sir. "Dammit!"
• "Release a new color that nobody wants? How about a light blue that is so close to the regular silver no one can tell?" We did that last year, sir. "Dammit!"
• "Oh, I know: Repeat the year 2000 mistake by naming our OS versions after the current year using only 2 digits. That will never bite us in the ass in the future." Brilliant, sir.

Trick question: null