The announcement also marks a change in how Apple signifies its major updates to iOS. Under the previous marketing scheme, this year’s major release would have been iOS 19 — the direct follow-up to iOS 18. But now, Apple’s big iOS updates will be numbered based on the year following their introduction

Well that's interesting. I was certain The Verge was trying to be funny. But this tracks, now Apple has Biggest Number.

Edit: This has to be a joke. Who the fuck thought this up? I can't take this seriously...

Samsung has been doing that with their Galaxy for a while.

it's not that unusual, lots of software is named by the date. i think it makes a lot of sense especailly for apple, now they don't have a different release number for all their different platforms.

I'm sorry if it's a dumb question, but didn't Microsoft already do this with Vista and Win 7? And I'm pretty sure transparency has been a thing on Android for a good while now:-?

Frutiger Aero.

I honestly don't even know why I'm paying attention to Apple at this point, I think it's like digging my nail into a freshly scarred-over cut, just to tease that sting out a bit. It's the only way in which they have ever contributed to my feeling alive.

Also not a fan of the critical UI elements being popped out into floating islands, very easy to accidentally hit underlying page content when there's effectively zero padding around controls (on touch devices, as the ad companies have discovered by making the × icons smaller and smaller).

I only "follow" because whatever Apple does gets broadcast by every media outlet in existence. Also Google started blindly following Apple design since they killed my beloved blob emojis.

The blob emojis were one of their best features, that's so true! I kid you not, every single time I've used Slack for work, for every single company which used it, someone had already uploaded the blobs! I really didn't understand that move, the current Smile emoji looks psychotic.

It's not a matter of biggest number, it's a matter of consistency.

They have five operating systems, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, visionOS.

So currently we have macOS 15, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11 & visionOS 2. That's absolute confusion. Do I have the latest version? Dropping support for an older version, how many years ago was that?

A version number should convey useful information, and the year it was released is useful information. Especially when major updates come every year.

Edit: I forgot tvOS, also version 18. So six operating systems.

Vista called and wants it’s ugly back

reading text isn’t the easiest with all the colors and blurs everywhere

Agreed - I like the look of these things in an abstract sense, but it makes the text really hard to read. I assume hope there's a way to disable it in accessibility settings.

Yes, but Samsung went from S10 to S20 -> 21 -> 22, etc. That move made sense. And even skipping the Note 6 for the (ill-fated) Note 7 made sense as that was just a single number skipped.

iOS 18 -> iOS 26 makes absolutely no sense. Maybe wait until iOS 20, then release iOS 30? IDK, but this is Apple we're talking about. Sense was never in the cards.

It’s not a matter of biggest number, it’s a matter of consistency.

They have five operating systems, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, visionOS.

So currently we have macOS 15, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11 & visionOS 2. That’s absolute confusion. Do I have the latest version? Dropping support for an older version, how many years ago was that?

I don't disagree with you on principle, but I still think the implementation is fucking bonkers.

A version number should convey useful information, and the year it was released is useful information. Especially when major updates come every year.

Major updates should come when they're needed, not on a set schedule. CVEs don't wait. Yes, I know patches and security updates are a thing. I still think it's ridiculous. And I absolutely blame Apple for setting the "new thing every year" trend in motion.

I suppose it makes sense for Apple, seeing as a significant chunk of their userbase are complete fucking morons.

I was just discussing this with a friend, I have no clue these days what iOS or macOS version is the latest. I guess this does help but it feels like a Windows 8 to 10 jump in steroids

Apple is crashing down slowly, but surely

This is such a step back to 2005 and those glassy Winamp skins. It looks absolutely terrible. I wonder how Apple users put up with that

what would you have them do? anything else would be just as arbitrary.

jfc relax. it's a number.