macOS
macOS is an operating system designed for Apple Macintosh desktop and laptop computers, such as the iMac and MacBook. It was developed by Apple, who also created the Apple I and other more modern products, including the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. The main competition for macOS is Microsoft Windows.
As macOS only runs on Apple desktop and laptop computers, the iPod and iPhone use a different operating system known as iOS. The iPad uses the iPadOS operating system.
What is macOS X
macOS, originally named macOS X, is an operating system released by Apple on March 16, 1999, for servers. The "X" is used to refer to the Roman numeral 10. It was later released for desktop computers on March 24, 2001, and was a completely new Apple Macintosh operating system based on BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution).
Some may abbreviate macOS X as OSX.
Historical information
The first version of the macOS, part of the "Classic" macOS series, was originally released in the mid-1980s. It did not possess a command line and could only run one application at a time. The first version of the Macintosh operating system called "macOS" was version 7.6. The chart below shows more recent versions of macOS as of 2024.
Apple has code-named each release of macOS as a big cat or place in California (except macOS Server 1.0).
Recent macOS versions
| OS name | Version | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| OS X Cheetah | 10.0 | March 24, 2001 |
| OS X Puma | 10.1 | September 25, 2001 |
| OS X Jaguar | 10.2 | August 23, 2002 |
| OS X Panther | 10.3 | October 24, 2003 |
| OS X Tiger | 10.4 | April 29, 2005 |
| OS X Leopard | 10.5 | October 26, 2007 |
| OS X Snow Leopard | 10.6 | August 28, 2009 |
| OS X Lion | 10.7 | July 20, 2011 |
| OS X Mountain Lion | 10.8 | July 25, 2012 |
| OS X Mavericks | 10.9 | October 22, 2013 |
| OS X Yosemite | 10.10 | October 16, 2014 |
| OS X El Capitan | 10.11 | September 30, 2015 |
| macOS Sierra | 10.12 | September 20, 2016 |
| macOS High Sierra | 10.13 | September 25, 2017 |
| macOS Mojave | 10.14 | September 24, 2018 |
| macOS Catalina | 10.15 | October 7, 2019 |
| macOS Big Sur | 11 | November 12, 2020 |
| macOS Monterey | 12 | October 25, 2021 |
| macOS Ventura | 13 | October 24, 2022 |
| macOS Sonoma | 14 | September 26, 2023 |
Is it macOS or Mac OS?
When released, Mac OS was written as "Mac OS" with a space. This version is shown in the example picture we've posted of the original Mac OS logo.
In 2016, the name was changed to "macOS" to help better align with Apple's other branding, like iOS, WatchOS, and tvOS.
With older versions of macOS, it is proper to use both "Mac OS" and "macOS" when describing the operating system. All versions of macOS released after 2016 should use the single-word version.
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