macOS

This article is about macOS version 10.0 and later. For Mac OS 9 and earlier, see Classic Mac OS. For the family of Mac operating systems, see Mac operating systems. For the Ugandan school nicknamed "Macos", see Makerere College School.

macOS
DeveloperApple Inc.
Written in
OS family
Source modelProprietary with open source components
Initial releaseMarch 24, 2001 (2001-03-24)
Latest release26.0[4] (25A354)[5] (September 15, 2025 (2025-09-15)) [±]
Available in47 languages[6]
List of languages
  • Arabic
  • Catalan
  • Chinese
    • Simplified
    • Traditional
  • Croatian
  • Czech
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • English
  • Finnish
  • French
  • German
  • Greek
  • Hebrew
  • Hindi
  • Hungarian
  • Indonesian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Malay
  • Norwegian Bokmål
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Spanish
  • Slovak
  • Swedish
  • Thai
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian
  • Vietnamese
Supported platforms
Kernel typeHybrid (XNU)
Default
user interface		Aqua (graphical)
LicenseProprietary
Preceded byClassic Mac OS, NeXTSTEP
Official websiteapple.com/macos
Support status
Supported
Part of a series on
History and architecture
Versions
Applications
  • List of compatible software
  • List of compatible games
Utilities
Related operating systems

macOS (previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a proprietary Unix-like[7][8] operating system, derived from OPENSTEP for Mach and FreeBSD, which has been marketed and developed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and laptop computers, it is the second most widely used desktop OS, after Microsoft Windows and ahead of all Linux distributions, including ChromeOS and SteamOS. As of 2025, the most recent release of macOS is macOS 26 Tahoe, the 22nd major version of macOS.[9]

Mac OS X succeeded the classic Mac OS, the primary Macintosh operating system from 1984 to 2001. Its underlying architecture came from NeXT's NeXTSTEP, as a result of Apple's acquisition of NeXT, which also brought Steve Jobs back to Apple. The first desktop version, Mac OS X 10.0, was released on March 24, 2001. Mac OS X Leopard and all later versions of macOS,[10] other than OS X Lion,[11] are UNIX 03 certified. Each of Apple's other contemporary operating systems, including iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, audioOS and visionOS, are derivatives of macOS. Throughout its history, macOS has supported three major processor architectures: the initial version supported PowerPC-based Macs only, with support for Intel-based Macs beginning with OS X Tiger 10.4.4[12] and support for ARM-based Apple silicon Macs beginning with macOS Big Sur.[13] Support for PowerPC-based Macs was dropped with OS X Snow Leopard,[14] and it was announced at the 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference that macOS Tahoe will be the last to support Intel-based Macs.[15]

A prominent part of macOS's original brand identity was the use of the Roman numeral X, pronounced "ten", as well as code naming each release after species of big cats, and later, places within California.[16] Apple shortened the name to "OS X" in 2011 and then changed it to "macOS" in 2016 to align with the branding of Apple's other operating systems.[17] In 2020, macOS Big Sur was presented as version 11—a marked departure after 16 releases of macOS 10—but the naming convention continued to reference places within California. In 2025, Apple unified the version number across all of its products to align with the year after their WWDC announcement, so the release announced at the 2025 WWDC, macOS Tahoe, is macOS 26.[18]

  1. ^ "The Register of UNIX© Certified Products". The Open Group. Archived from the original on August 7, 2025. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
  2. ^ "What Is the I/O Kit?". IOKit Fundamentals. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2018. Apple considered several programming languages for the I/O Kit and chose a restricted subset of C++.
  3. ^ "What's New in Swift". Apple Developer (Video). June 14, 2016. At 2:40. Archived from the original on August 4, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  4. ^ Clover, Juli (September 16, 2025). "macOS Tahoe Now Available With Liquid Glass Design, Phone App, Spotlight Actions and More". MacRumors. Retrieved September 15, 2025.
  5. ^ "macOS 26 (25A354)". Apple Developer. September 15, 2025. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  6. ^ "macOS Feature Availability". System Language. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  7. ^ Gunnell, Marshall (June 5, 2024). "Macintosh Operating System (Mac OS)". Technopedia. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  8. ^ "macOS". PC Magazine. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
  9. ^ Clover, Juli (September 16, 2025). "macOS Tahoe Now Available With Liquid Glass Design, Phone App, Spotlight Actions and More". MacRumors. Retrieved September 15, 2025.
  10. ^ *"Apple technology brief on UNIX" (PDF). Apple. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 10, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
  11. ^ "Re: was OS X version 10.7 Lion UNIX 03 certified?". austin-group-l (Mailing list). Archived from the original on April 29, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  12. ^ Geller, Adam (April 27, 2012). "Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger: Perhaps the Best Version Ever". Low End Mac. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  13. ^ Evans, Jonny (June 22, 2020). "WWDC 2020: Yes, Apple is dumping Intel, gently". Computerworld. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  14. ^ Geller, Adam (March 14, 2012). "Good-bye, PowerPC". Low End Mac. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  15. ^ "Apple Confirms End of Support for Intel Macs After macOS Tahoe". PCMAG. June 10, 2025. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  16. ^ Ha, Anthony (June 10, 2013). "Apple Has A New, California-Based Naming Scheme For OS X, Starting With OS X Mavericks". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  17. ^ Mastroianni, Brian (June 13, 2016). "Apple unveils iOS 10, macOS, and more at WWDC 2016". CBS News. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023. Perhaps one of the announcements that stood out the most was a slight name change. The desktop operating system Mac OS X will now be called macOS to better match with the way the company's other operating systems are named.
  18. ^ Preston, Dominic (June 9, 2025). "Apple renames its operating systems". The Verge. Retrieved June 10, 2025.
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