At the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2025, held Monday, Apple confirmed it is unifying version numbers across its platforms, adopting a year-based naming convention for its operating systems.
Moving away from names like iOS 19 and macOS 19, the new naming scheme includes iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26 and visionOS 26.
This naming change aims to enhance clarity and consistency across platforms, simplifying the naming process and aligning with competitors like Samsung and Microsoft. It makes it easier for users to identify and understand the latest updates.
Among other WWDC announcements, Apple introduced a major design overhaul called “Liquid Glass”, featuring a translucent and fluid interface. This represents the most significant visual transformation since iOS 7 and is the most prominent change observed thus far.
Major Updates
The cornerstone of the update is the Liquid Glass design, a glossy, translucent interface applied uniformly across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS and visionOS. It includes glossy icons, adaptive controls and motion-responsive wallpapers.
A key highlight is Apple Intelligence, an on-device AI framework. It powers real-time translation in Messages, FaceTime and Phone apps, enhances screen understanding through Visual Intelligence and provides third-party developers with private access to AI models via the new Foundation Models framework.
The Phone app introduces smart features such as automatic call screening, real-time hold detection and live voice translation. Messaging gains social enhancements including group polls, custom backgrounds, unknown sender filtering and AI-powered suggestions.
The Camera and Photos apps feature a redesigned, cleaner interface with intuitive controls. Photos reintroduces familiar tabs and supports immersive 3D previews. AirPods now enable remote camera triggering and offer studio-quality audio recording on newer models.
Apple Music includes live lyrics translation and an AI-powered AutoMix for seamless song transitions. CarPlay adopts the refreshed Liquid Glass interface, though details remain limited. The Maps app now tracks previously visited locations and the Wallet app receives interface updates. A new cross-platform Apple Games app allows users to manage titles and track activity across devices.
Additional updates include Safari privacy enhancements, expanded developer APIs for Liquid Glass and the announcement that Intel Macs will no longer be supported beyond macOS Tahoe 26.
