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 ]
macOS was initially called Mac OS X and later OS X.
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.
iOS was previously known as iPhone OS, despite also being available on the iPod Touch (1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations) and the original iPad.
At its June 2019 Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple introduced iPadOS, a version of iOS, for iPad tablets, promised for fall 2019 release. [2] [3]
There was no Apple TV Software 8; version 8 was skipped when moving to tvOS.
Device(s) | OS | Release | Announced | Released | Discontinued | Notes |
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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 |
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System Software 6 | 1988 |
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Macintosh computers (68k and PowerPC) | System 7 | 1991 |
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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 |
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Mac OS X 10.0 | September 13, 2000 | March 24, 2001 |
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Mac OS X 10.1 | September 25, 2001 |
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Mac OS X Jaguar | August 23, 2002 |
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Mac OS X Panther | October 24, 2003 |
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Macintosh computers (PowerPC and x86) | Mac OS X Tiger | April 29, 2005 |
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Mac OS X Leopard | October 26, 2007 |
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Macintosh computers (x86) | Mac OS X Snow Leopard | August 28, 2009 |
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Mac OS X Lion | July 20, 2011 |
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OS X Mountain Lion | June 11, 2012 | July 25, 2012 |
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OS X Mavericks | June 10, 2013 | October 22, 2013 |
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OS X Yosemite | June 2, 2014 | October 16, 2014 |
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OS X El Capitan | June 8, 2015 | September 30, 2015 |
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macOS Sierra | June 13, 2016 | September 20, 2016 |
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macOS High Sierra | June 5, 2017 | September 25, 2017 |
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macOS Mojave | June 4, 2018 | September 24, 2018 |
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macOS Catalina | June 3, 2019 | October 7, 2019 |
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Macintosh computers (x86 and ARM64) | macOS Big Sur | June 22, 2020 | November 12, 2020 |
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macOS Monterey | June 7, 2021 | October 25, 2021 |
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macOS Ventura | June 6, 2022 | October 24, 2022 |
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macOS Sonoma | June 5, 2023 | September 26, 2023 |
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macOS Sequoia | June 10, 2024 |
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Macintosh computers (PowerPC) | Mac OS X Server | Mac OS X Server 1.0 | March 16, 1999 | March 16, 1999 |
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Mac OS X Server 10.0 | May 21, 2001 |
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Mac OS X Server 10.1 | September 25, 2001 |
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Mac OS X Server 10.2 | August 23, 2002 |
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Mac OS X Server 10.3 | October 24, 2003 |
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Macintosh computers (PowerPC and x86) | Mac OS X Server 10.4 | April 29, 2005 |
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Mac OS X Server 10.5 | October 26, 2007 |
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Macintosh computers (68k) | A/UX | February 1988 | ||||
Macintosh computers (PowerPC) | MkLinux | |||||
Copland | N/A |
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Other computers | NeXTSTEP | September 18, 1989 |
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OpenStep | 1994 | |||||
Darwin | November 15, 2000 | |||||
A/ROSE | ||||||
AIX for Apple Network Servers | ||||||
Macintosh Application Environment | ||||||
PowerOpen Environment | ||||||
Star Trek | N/A |
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Taligent | ||||||
Newton | Newton OS | August 3, 1993 | February 27, 1998 | |||
iPod | iPod OS |
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Apple TV | Apple TV Software (x86) | Apple TV Software 1 | September 12, 2006 | March 21, 2007 | February 12, 2008 |
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Apple TV Software 2 | January 15, 2008 [4] | February 12, 2008 [5] | October 2009 |
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Apple TV Software 3 | October 2009 |
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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 |
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Apple TV Software 7 [note 1] | September 17, 2014 |
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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 | ||
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 |
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iOS 5 | June 6, 2011 | October 12, 2011 | ||||
iOS 6 | June 11, 2012 | September 19, 2012 | ||||
iOS 7 | June 10, 2013 | September 18, 2013 |
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iOS 8 | June 2, 2014 | September 17, 2014 | ||||
iOS 9 | June 8, 2015 | September 16, 2015 | ||||
iOS 10 | June 13, 2016 | September 13, 2016 |
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iOS 11 | June 5, 2017 | September 19, 2017 |
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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 |
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iPhone | iOS 16 | June 6, 2022 | September 12, 2022 |
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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 |
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iPadOS 14 | June 22, 2020 | September 16, 2020 |
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iPadOS 15 | June 7, 2021 | September 20, 2021 |
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iPadOS 16 | June 6, 2022 | October 24, 2022 |
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iPadOS 17 | June 5, 2023 | September 18, 2023 |
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iPadOS 18 | June 10, 2024 |
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Apple Watch | watchOS | watchOS 1 | Early 2015 | April 24, 2015 |
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watchOS 2 | June 8, 2015 | September 21, 2015 |
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watchOS 3 | June 13, 2016 | September 13, 2016 |
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watchOS 4 | June 5, 2017 | September 19, 2017 |
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watchOS 5 | June 4, 2018 | September 17, 2018 | ||||
watchOS 6 | June 3, 2019 | September 19, 2019 |
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watchOS 7 | June 22, 2020 | September 16, 2020 |
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watchOS 8 | June 7, 2021 | September 20, 2021 | ||||
watchOS 9 | June 6, 2022 | September 12, 2022 | ||||
watchOS 10 | June 5, 2023 | September 18, 2023 |
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watchOS 11 | June 10, 2024 |
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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 |
macOS, originally Mac OS X, previously shortened as OS X, is an operating system developed and marketed by Apple since 2001. It is the primary 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.
Mac OS X Server is a series of discontinued Unix-like server operating systems developed by Apple Inc. based on macOS. It provided server functionality and system administration tools, and tools to manage both macOS-based computers and iOS-based devices, network services such as a mail transfer agent, AFP and SMB servers, an LDAP server, and a domain name server, as well as server applications including a Web server, database, and calendar server.
Darwin is the core Unix-like operating system of macOS, iOS, watchOS, tvOS, iPadOS, audioOS, visionOS, and bridgeOS. It previously existed as an independent open-source operating system, first released by Apple Inc. in 2000. It is composed of code derived from NeXTSTEP, FreeBSD, other BSD operating systems, Mach, and other free software projects' code, as well as code developed by Apple.
The history of macOS, Apple's current Mac operating system formerly named Mac OS X until 2011 and then OS X until 2016, began with the company's project to replace its "classic" Mac OS. That system, up to and including its final release Mac OS 9, was a direct descendant of the operating system Apple had used in its Mac computers since their introduction in 1984. However, the current macOS is a UNIX operating system built on technology that had been developed at NeXT from the 1980s until Apple purchased the company in early 1997.
Bonjour is Apple's implementation of zero-configuration networking (zeroconf), a group of technologies that includes service discovery, address assignment, and hostname resolution. Bonjour locates devices such as printers, other computers, and the services that those devices offer on a local network using multicast Domain Name System (mDNS) service records.
Calendar is a personal calendar app made by Apple Inc. for its macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS operating systems. It offers online cloud backup of calendars using Apple's iCloud service, or can synchronize with other calendar services, including Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange Server.
Xcode is Apple's integrated development environment (IDE) for macOS, used to develop software for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS. It was initially released in late 2003; the latest stable release is version 16, released on September 16, 2024, and is available free of charge via the Mac App Store and the Apple Developer website. Registered developers can also download preview releases and prior versions of the suite through the Apple Developer website. Xcode includes command-line tools that enable UNIX-style development via the Terminal app in macOS. They can also be downloaded and installed without the GUI.
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in the macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS families as well as other Apple software; new hardware products are sometimes announced as well. WWDC is also an event hosted for third-party software developers that work on apps for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple devices. Attendees can participate in hands-on labs with Apple engineers and attend in-depth sessions covering a wide variety of topics.
Apple Developer is Apple Inc.'s website for software development tools, application programming interfaces (APIs), and technical resources. It contains resources to help software developers write software for the macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS and visionOS platforms.
XNU is the computer operating system (OS) kernel developed at Apple Inc. since December 1996 for use in the Mac OS X operating system and released as free and open-source software as part of the Darwin OS, which, in addition to being the basis for macOS, is also the basis for Apple TV Software, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS.
Stevenote is a colloquial term for keynote speeches given by Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple, at events such as the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Macworld Expo, and Apple Expo. Because most Apple product releases were first shown to the public at these keynotes, "Stevenotes" caused substantial swings in Apple's stock price.
A mobile operating system is an operating system used for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typical/mobile laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on them are usually not considered mobile, as they were originally designed for desktop computers that historically did not have or need specific mobile features. This "fine line" distinguishing mobile and other forms has become blurred in recent years, due to the fact that newer devices have become smaller and more mobile, unlike the hardware of the past. Key notabilities blurring this line are the introduction of tablet computers, light laptops, and the hybridization of the two in 2-in-1 PCs.
Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc. in a succession of two major series.
AirPlay is a proprietary wireless communication protocol stack/suite developed by Apple Inc. that allows the streaming of multimedia and device screens, together with related metadata, between compatible devices. Originally implemented only in Apple's own software and hardware, the company has since licensed the AirPlay protocol stack to third-party manufacturers and it has been implemented on devices such as television sets and home audio systems. AirPlay works through either a direct peer-to-peer connection between devices or through an infrastructure local network.
AirPrint is a feature in Apple Inc.'s macOS and iOS operating systems for printing without installing printer-specific drivers.
The following outline of Apple Inc. is a topical guide to the products, history, retail stores, corporate acquisitions, and personnel under the purview of the American multinational corporation:
tvOS is an operating system developed by Apple Inc. for the Apple TV, a digital media player. In the first-generation Apple TV, Apple TV Software was based on Mac OS X. Starting with the second generation, the software is based on the iOS operating system and has many similar frameworks, technologies, and concepts.
Comparison of user features of operating systems refers to a comparison of the general user features of major operating systems in a narrative format. It does not encompass a full exhaustive comparison or description of all technical details of all operating systems. It is a comparison of basic roles and the most prominent features. It also includes the most important features of the operating system's origins, historical development, and role.