WWDC 2025

diamond.g · Apr 25, 2025

Seems interesting that Apple is willing to walk back the separate interface for separate input methods ethos they had during the Windows 8 days. I wonder how long until iPad OS is basically a convertible OS like Win8 was.

Cmaier · Apr 25, 2025

thenewperson said:
Having the menu bar only with an external keyboard kind of sucks. Would love if that was a standard iPad interface element.

I don’t know. I always have my ipad in its keyboard case, and i’m not sure how great a menu bar would be when no keyboard/trackpad is attached. I do think it’s probably a good thing that Apple may be considering that different user interfaces make sense when you have a keyboard/mouse pointer and when you don’t.

thenewperson · Apr 26, 2025

Cmaier said:
and i’m not sure how great a menu bar would be when no keyboard/trackpad is attached

Pretty good I feel. The menu bar as it is now (at least with ASi Macs) is pretty spacious so it should work well with touch. The status bar already exists on iPads so a constant bar at the top isn’t some foreign thing. And menus exist and are used throughout the system so that’s work well enough.

I could see an issue where apps decide to forgo placing buttons right in the app and instead relegating so much to the menu bar but based on macOS so far it seems like the opposite problem shows up with (mostly) non-native apps instead.

Cmaier · Wednesday at 12:11 PM

Apple allegedly switching OS version names to year numbers (iOS 26, macOS 26, etc.)

Apple will announce iOS 26 at WWDC, not iOS 19: report - 9to5Mac

Apple is planning a huge shakeup to its naming scheme for software updates. Bloomberg reports that this year’s iOS update...

9to5mac.com

Makes sense to me. I’ve lost track of version numbers at this point. They should probably do the same thing with iPhone naming.

Roller · Wednesday at 12:52 PM

Cmaier said:
Apple allegedly switching OS version names to year numbers (iOS 26, macOS 26, etc.)

Apple will announce iOS 26 at WWDC, not iOS 19: report - 9to5Mac

Apple is planning a huge shakeup to its naming scheme for software updates. Bloomberg reports that this year’s iOS update...

9to5mac.com

Makes sense to me. I’ve lost track of version numbers at this point. They should probably do the same thing with iPhone naming.

I agree that it makes sense for all their OS version names. I assume the naming will be based on initial release date. For example, any iOS version first released in 2027 will be called iOS 27.x even if there are updates in 2028, as there will be. (TBH, I wish they'd move away from annual major updates, but I don't see that happening.)

But I think doing something similar with iPhones would be problematic from a marketing perspective. For instance, if Apple releases iPhone 27 in September or October 2027, in just a few months it'll be perceived as last year's model even more than with the current naming convention.

Cmaier · Wednesday at 1:58 PM

Roller said:
I agree that it makes sense for all their OS version names. I assume the naming will be based on initial release date. For example, any iOS version first released in 2027 will be called iOS 27.x even if there are updates in 2028, as there will be. (TBH, I wish they'd move away from annual major updates, but I don't see that happening.)

But I think doing something similar with iPhones would be problematic from a marketing perspective. For instance, if Apple releases iPhone 27 in September or October 2027, in just a few months it'll be perceived as last year's model even more than with the current naming convention.

They pre-solved that for you. Apparently this year’s OS’s will be “26.” So an iPhone in Sept 2027 would presumably be called iPhone 28.

Vincent Hannah · Wednesday at 2:37 PM

Yes, it's the car model year concept, where iOS 26 comes out in 2025 and remains the current version for most of 2026 too.

My first reaction is this would be confusing for the iPhone hardware models, but I'm warming to it already. Easy to know what year your iPhone came out and how old it is. And it leapfrogs the Samsung S25 Ultra from a marketing perspective.

Cmaier · Wednesday at 3:20 PM

Vincent Hannah said:
Yes, it's the car model year concept, where iOS 26 comes out in 2025 and remains the current version for most of 2026 too.

My first reaction is this would be confusing for the iPhone hardware models, but I'm warming to it already. Easy to know what year your iPhone came out and how old it is. And it leapfrogs the Samsung S25 Ultra from a marketing perspective.

I’d be fine if they just did it mac-style. “late 2026 iPhone” or whatever. But having owned nearly every generation iPhone since the beginning, at this point I can never remember what the name of the phone in my hand is. But I know when I bought it.

I’m beginning to have the same problem with A-series chips. Once you get into double digits, I begin to lose track of where we are.

Vincent Hannah · Wednesday at 5:43 PM

No need for the Mac-style, "late- early-" prefixes. There is only one iPhone model per year.

iPhone 26, iPhone 26 Pro, iPhone 26 Pro Max, (and the new) iPhone 26 Air

I like it. The year number never changes for the hardware, but every year the OS number increments one. "I have an iPhone 26 running iOS 28" lets you know the vintage of the hardware and the currency of the OS at all times. That's much clearer than "I have an iPhone 16 running iOS 20" or "I have an iPhone 14 running iOS 19."

Cmaier · Wednesday at 6:52 PM

Vincent Hannah said:
No need for the Mac-style, "late- early-" prefixes. There is only one iPhone model per year.

iPhone 26, iPhone 26 Pro, iPhone 26 Pro Max, (and the new) iPhone 26 Air

I like it. The year number never changes for the hardware, but every year the OS number increments one. "I have an iPhone 26 running iOS 28" lets you know the vintage of the hardware and the currency of the OS at all times. That's much clearer than "I have an iPhone 16 running iOS 20" or "I have an iPhone 14 running iOS 19."

I was thinking the “late/early” stuff might help if they do what is rumored, and introduce some models later than others (staggering pro’s and non-pro’s, and folds, and what not). But even with Macs, the late/early would usually not be necessary, and yet they use it; it’s rare that they update the same mac model twice in a year.

Vincent Hannah · Wednesday at 7:20 PM

They haven't used the late- early- prefixes on Macs since the Apple Silicon transition. That's the beauty of the M-series naming convention: everyone knows an M4 is newer than an M3.

And even though different models of iPhone can be staggered through the year, each model only gets one annual release. So still no need for the early- late-.

This even lines up really well with the separate rumor that the iPhone 18 line will only release the Pro and Air models in September, with the base models pushed to the following Spring. So you get this:

Sept 2025
iPhone 26
iPhone 26 Air
iPhone 26 Pro
iPhone 26 Pro Max

Sept 2026
iPhone 27 Air
iPhone 27 Pro
iPhone 27 Pro Max

March 2027
iPhone 27
iPhone 27e

diamond.g · Thursday at 3:35 AM

Samsung switched to naming their phone after the year in 2020. Interesting to see folks agree that Apple should do the same.

The Hardcard · Thursday at 12:35 PM

Vincent Hannah said:
No need for the Mac-style, "late- early-" prefixes. There is only one iPhone model per year.

iPhone 26, iPhone 26 Pro, iPhone 26 Pro Max, (and the new) iPhone 26 Air

I like it. The year number never changes for the hardware, but every year the OS number increments one. "I have an iPhone 26 running iOS 28" lets you know the vintage of the hardware and the currency of the OS at all times. That's much clearer than "I have an iPhone 16 running iOS 20" or "I have an iPhone 14 running iOS 19."

I didn’t know how I felt about the change until you said that. That would be fantastic. Please say you work in Apple marketing.

Roller · Thursday at 12:52 PM

The Hardcard said:
I didn’t know how I felt about the change until you said that. That would be fantastic. Please say you work in Apple marketing.

I'll be OK with whatever Apple does with iPhone naming. I'm past the days when I got a new one every year or two. Now I upgrade when my wife's phone, which she gets from me, is too slow or won't run the latest iOS version, though significant camera updates can also prompt me to buy a new device. On the other hand, I think naming iOS by year is a great idea.

Andropov · Friday at 12:38 AM

Funnily enough, I've been sort of doing the same in reverse. I use the iPhone model of a year to get a feel of how long ago that was. 2019 doesn't sound that long ago, but it was the iPhone 11 year! 2011? That's iPhone 4S!

Yoused · 2025-05-31T10:19:46-0700

I wonder if they will extend that to SoC naming. No "M5", just "M26" – though, then they would lose the Star Trek reference (we would have to wait 16 years for the Hitchhiker's reference).

KingOfPain · 2025-05-31T10:33:04-0700

Yoused said:
No "M5", just "M26" – though, then they would lose the Star Trek reference (we would have to wait 16 years for the Hitchhiker's reference).

Just 8 years for a Voyages of the Space Beagle reference.

M33 in Andromeda - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Yoused · 2025-05-31T10:47:18-0700

But what sort of content moderation would be embedded into iPhone 34?

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