List of Apple operating systems
The following is a list of operating systems released by Apple Inc. As of 2023, there are six supported software platforms: iOS , iPadOS , watchOS , tvOS , macOS and visionOS .
Prior to the introduction of the Macintosh in early 1984, Apple had several operating systems for the Apple II series, Apple SOS for the Apple III series, and Lisa OS and MacWorks XL for the Apple Lisa series; those were introduced between 1977 and 1983.
The original operating system for the Macintosh was the classic Mac OS , which was introduced in early 1984 as System Software. In 1997, System Software was renamed Mac OS.
In 1999, Mac OS X Server 1.0 was released, followed by Mac OS X 10.0 , the first consumer release of the Mac OS X.
From the release of Mac OS X 10.0 until early 2007, Mac OS X was the only software platform. In early 2007, iPhone OS was introduced, increasing the number of software platforms by one, from one to two. In 2010, iPhone OS was renamed iOS. In 2011, Mac OS X was renamed OS X. In early 2015, the number of software platforms rose by one, from two to three, as watchOS was introduced. In late 2015, tvOS was introduced, increasing the number of software platforms again by one, from three to four. In 2016, OS X was renamed macOS. In 2019, iPadOS was introduced as the derived version of iOS for iPad, increasing the number of software platforms again by one, from four to five. In 2020, macOS received an increment in its version, from 10 to 11. In 2023, the number of software platforms rose again by one, from five to six, as visionOS was introduced.[citation needed ]
Apple computers
Apple II
Apple III
Apple Lisa
Mac
Classic Mac OS
Mac OS X / OS X / macOS
macOS was initially called Mac OS X and later OS X.
macOS Server
macOS Server was initially called Mac OS X Server and later OS X Server.
Starting with Lion, there is no separate Mac OS X Server operating system. Instead the server components are a separate download from the Mac App Store .
Others
Mobile devices
Newton
iPod
iOS
iOS was previously known as iPhone OS , despite also being available on the iPod Touch (1st , 2nd , and 3rd generations ) and the original iPad .
iPadOS
At its June 2019 Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple introduced iPadOS, a version of iOS, for iPad tablets, promised for fall 2019 release.[ 2] [ 3]
watchOS
Living room
Apple TV Software
There was no Apple TV Software 8; version 8 was skipped when moving to tvOS .
tvOS
audioOS
visionOS
Table of operating systems
Device(s)
OS
Release
Announced
Released
Discontinued
Notes
Apple II
Apple DOS
June 1978
1983
Apple ProDOS
1983
1993
Apple GS/OS
1988
Apple III
Apple SOS
1980
Apple Lisa
Lisa OS
1983
MacWorks XL
1984
Macintosh computers (68k )
Classic Mac OS
System 1
System 2
1985
System 3
1986
System 4
1987
System Software 5
Also marketed as System 5
System Software 6
1988
Also marketed as System 6
Macintosh computers (68k and PowerPC )
System 7
1991
Mac OS 8
1997
Macintosh computers (PowerPC )
Mac OS 9
1999
Mac OS X/OS X/macOS
Mac OS X Public Beta
September 13, 2000
May 14, 2001
Mac OS X 10.0
September 13, 2000
March 24, 2001
Mac OS X 10.1
September 25, 2001
Mac OS X Jaguar
August 23, 2002
Version 10.2
First release with a marketing name
Mac OS X Panther
October 24, 2003
Macintosh computers (PowerPC and x86 )
Mac OS X Tiger
April 29, 2005
Mac OS X Leopard
October 26, 2007
Macintosh computers (x86 )
Mac OS X Snow Leopard
August 28, 2009
Mac OS X Lion
July 20, 2011
Version 10.7
Also marketed as OS X Lion
OS X Mountain Lion
June 11, 2012
July 25, 2012
OS X Mavericks
June 10, 2013
October 22, 2013
OS X Yosemite
June 2, 2014
October 16, 2014
OS X El Capitan
June 8, 2015
September 30, 2015
macOS Sierra
June 13, 2016
September 20, 2016
macOS High Sierra
June 5, 2017
September 25, 2017
macOS Mojave
June 4, 2018
September 24, 2018
Version 10.14
Final version of macOS to support 32-bit hardware and software
macOS Catalina
June 3, 2019
October 7, 2019
Version 10.15
First version of macOS with only 64-bit hardware and software support; 32-bit hardware and software support dropped
Macintosh computers (x86 and ARM64 )
macOS Big Sur
June 22, 2020
November 12, 2020
macOS Monterey
June 7, 2021
October 25, 2021
macOS Ventura
June 6, 2022
October 24, 2022
macOS Sonoma
June 5, 2023
September 26, 2023
macOS Sequoia
June 10, 2024
Macintosh computers (PowerPC )
Mac OS X Server
Mac OS X Server 1.0
March 16, 1999
March 16, 1999
Code name Hera
Also referred to as Rhapsody
Mac OS X Server 10.0
May 21, 2001
Mac OS X Server 10.1
September 25, 2001
Mac OS X Server 10.2
August 23, 2002
Mac OS X Server 10.3
October 24, 2003
Macintosh computers (PowerPC and x86 )
Mac OS X Server 10.4
April 29, 2005
Mac OS X Server 10.5
October 26, 2007
Also marketed as Leopard Server
Macintosh computers (68k )
A/UX
February 1988
Macintosh computers (PowerPC )
MkLinux
Copland
N/A
Other computers
NeXTSTEP
September 18, 1989
Developed by NeXT , which Apple bought in 1997
OpenStep
1994
Darwin
November 15, 2000
A/ROSE
AIX for Apple Network Servers
Macintosh Application Environment
PowerOpen Environment
Star Trek
N/A
Taligent
Newton
Newton OS
August 3, 1993
February 27, 1998
iPod
iPod OS
Apple TV
Apple TV Software (x86 )
Apple TV Software 1
September 12, 2006
March 21, 2007
February 12, 2008
Apple TV Software 2
January 15, 2008[ 4]
February 12, 2008[ 5]
October 2009
Apple TV Software 3
October 2009
Derived from Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger
Apple TV Software (ARM )
Apple TV Software 4
September 1, 2010
Apple TV Software 5
March 7, 2012
Apple TV Software 6
September 20, 2013
Apple TV Software 7 [ note 1]
September 17, 2014
tvOS
tvOS 9 [ note 1]
September 9, 2015
October 30, 2015
tvOS 10
June 13, 2016
September 13, 2016
tvOS 11
June 5, 2017
September 19, 2017
tvOS 12
June 4, 2018
September 17, 2018
tvOS 13
June 3, 2019
September 19, 2019
tvOS 14
June 22, 2020
September 16, 2020
tvOS 15
June 7, 2021
September 20, 2021
tvOS 16
June 6, 2022
September 12, 2022
tvOS 17
June 5, 2023
September 18, 2023
tvOS 18
June 10, 2024
iOS devices (iPhone , iPod Touch , and iPad )
iPhone OS/iOS [ note 2]
iPhone OS 1 [ note 2]
January 2007
June 29, 2007
Derived from "OS X" (At the time, "macOS " was still known as "Mac OS X " and not "OS X " as it was known from 2012 to 2016.)
iPhone OS 2 [ note 2]
Early 2008
June 2008
iPhone OS 3 [ note 2]
Early 2009
June 2009
iOS 4 [ note 2]
Early 2010
June 2010
Continuing from iPhone OS 3
iOS 5
June 6, 2011
October 12, 2011
iOS 6
June 11, 2012
September 19, 2012
iOS 7
June 10, 2013
September 18, 2013
First version of iOS to bring 64-bit hardware and software support
iOS 8
June 2, 2014
September 17, 2014
iOS 9
June 8, 2015
September 16, 2015
iOS 10
June 13, 2016
September 13, 2016
Final version of iOS to support 32-bit hardware and software
iOS 11
June 5, 2017
September 19, 2017
First version of iOS with only 64-bit hardware and software support; 32-bit hardware and software support dropped
iOS 12
June 4, 2018
September 17, 2018
iOS devices (iPhone and iPod Touch )
iOS 13
June 3, 2019
September 19, 2019
iOS 14
June 22, 2020
September 16, 2020
iOS 15
June 7, 2021
September 20, 2021
Final version of iOS supported on or by iPod touch
iPhone
iOS 16
June 6, 2022
September 12, 2022
First version of iOS supported only on iPhone; support dropped for iPod touch
iOS 17
June 5, 2023
September 18, 2023
iOS 18
June 10, 2024
iPad
iPadOS (derived from iOS )
iPadOS 13
June 3, 2019
September 24, 2019
Derived from iOS 13
First version of iPadOS
iPadOS 14
June 22, 2020
September 16, 2020
Derived from iOS 14
Second version of iPadOS
iPadOS 15
June 7, 2021
September 20, 2021
Derived from iOS 15
Third version of iPadOS
iPadOS 16
June 6, 2022
October 24, 2022
Derived from iOS 16
Fourth version of iPadOS
iPadOS 17
June 5, 2023
September 18, 2023
Derived from iOS 17
Fifth version of iPadOS
iPadOS 18
June 10, 2024
Derived from iOS 18
Sixth version of iPadOS
Apple Watch
watchOS
watchOS 1
Early 2015
April 24, 2015
Derived from iOS 8
First version of watchOS
watchOS 2
June 8, 2015
September 21, 2015
Derived from iOS 9
Second version of watchOS
watchOS 3
June 13, 2016
September 13, 2016
Derived from iOS 10
Third version of watchOS
watchOS 4
June 5, 2017
September 19, 2017
Derived from iOS 11
Fourth version of watchOS
watchOS 5
June 4, 2018
September 17, 2018
Derived from iOS 12
Fifth version of watchOS
First version of watchOS to bring 64-bit hardware and software support
watchOS 6
June 3, 2019
September 19, 2019
Sixth version of watchOS
Derived from iOS 13
watchOS 7
June 22, 2020
September 16, 2020
Seventh version of watchOS
Derived from iOS 14
watchOS 8
June 7, 2021
September 20, 2021
Derived from iOS 15
Eighth version of watchOS
Final version of watchOS to support 32-bit hardware and software
watchOS 9
June 6, 2022
September 12, 2022
Derived from iOS 16
Ninth version of watchOS
First version of watchOS with only 64-bit hardware and software support; 32-bit hardware and software support dropped
watchOS 10
June 5, 2023
September 18, 2023
Derived from iOS 17
Tenth version of watchOS
watchOS 11
June 10, 2024
Derived from iOS 18
Eleventh version of watchOS
Vision Pro
visionOS
visionOS 1
June 5, 2023
January 31, 2024 February 2, 2024 with the release of Apple Vision Pro
visionOS 2
June 10, 2024
Notes
References
^ "Apple OS History" . Computer Hope . May 21, 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-11 .
^ Warren, Tom (2019-06-03). "Apple reveals iPadOS for iPad with a new home screen, multitasking improvements, and more" . The Verge . Retrieved 2019-06-17 .
^ Jaffe, Justin. "Apple introduces iPadOS, giving iPads their own operating system" . CNET . Retrieved 2019-06-17 .
^ "Jobs reveals Apple TV update, HD rentals [U]" . MacNN . January 15, 2008. Archived from the original on March 3, 2018.
^ "Apple releases Apple TV "Take 2" update" . MacNN . February 12, 2008. Archived from the original on March 3, 2018.