macOS

Updated: 05/06/2024 by Computer Hope
Apple logo

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.

Note

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 logo

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).

Tip

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.

Fun fact

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?

Mac OS original logo.

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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