macOS
Sign in to savemacOS (previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a proprietary Unix operating system, derived from OPENSTEP for Mach and FreeBSD, which has been marketed and developed by Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's line of Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and laptop computers, it is currently the second most widely used desktop OS, after Microsoft Windows and ahead of all Linux distributions, including ChromeOS and SteamOS. , the most recent release of macOS is macOS 26 Tahoe, the 22nd major version of macOS.
AI overview
macOS is the operating system that runs Apple's Mac computers, and it has been developed by Apple since 2001. It is the second most widely used desktop and laptop operating system in the world, behind only Microsoft Windows.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- OS.name
- macOS
- OS.logo
- frameless|upright=0.8|class=skin-invert
- OS.screenshot
- MacOS Tahoe screenshot.png
- OS.screenshot_size
- 260px
- OS.caption
- macOS Tahoe, the latest release of macOS
- OS.developer
- Apple
- OS.ui
- Aqua (graphical)
- OS.license
- Proprietary
- OS.language count
- 47
- OS.source_model
- Proprietary with open source components
- OS.kernel_type
- Hybrid (XNU)
- OS.preceded_by
- Classic Mac OS, NeXTSTEP
- OS.support_status
Article
49 sectionsContents
- History
- Development
- Mac OS X
- OS X
- macOS
- Timeline of releases
- Architecture
- Software compatibility
- Hardware compatibility
- PowerPC–Intel transition
- Intel–Apple silicon transition
- Features
- User interface
- Aqua
- Built-in components
- Multilingual support
- Updating methods
- Release history
- Mac OS X Public Beta
- Mac OS X 10.0
- Mac OS X 10.1
- Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar
- Mac OS X 10.3 Panther
- Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger
- Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
- Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
- OS X 10.7 Lion
- OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
- OS X 10.9 Mavericks
- OS X 10.10 Yosemite
- OS X 10.11 El Capitan
- macOS 10.12 Sierra
- macOS 10.13 High Sierra
- macOS 10.14 Mojave
- macOS 10.15 Catalina
- macOS 11 Big Sur
- macOS 12 Monterey
- macOS 13 Ventura
- macOS 14 Sonoma
- macOS 15 Sequoia
- macOS 26 Tahoe
- Security
- Malware and spyware
- Reception
- Usage share
- Promotion
- See also
- References
- External links
macOS (previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a proprietary Unix operating system, derived from OPENSTEP for Mach and FreeBSD, which has been marketed and developed by Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's line of Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and laptop computers, it is currently the second most widely used desktop OS, after Microsoft Windows and ahead of all Linux distributions, including ChromeOS and SteamOS. , the most recent release of macOS is macOS 26 Tahoe, the 22nd major version of macOS.
Mac OS X succeeded the classic Mac OS, the primary Macintosh operating system from 1984 to 2001. Its underlying architecture came from NeXT's NeXTSTEP, as a result of Apple's acquisition of NeXT, which also brought Steve Jobs back to Apple. The first desktop version, Mac OS X 10.0, was released on March 24, 2001. Apart from OS X Lion, all versions from Mac OS X Leopard onwards are UNIX 03 certified. Each of Apple's other contemporary operating systems, including iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, audioOS and visionOS, are derivatives of macOS. Throughout its history, macOS has supported three major processor architectures: the initial version supported PowerPC-based Macs only, with support for Intel-based Macs beginning with OS X Tiger 10.4.4 and support for ARM-based Apple silicon Macs beginning with macOS Big Sur. Support for PowerPC-based Macs was dropped with OS X Snow Leopard, and it was announced at the 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference that macOS Tahoe will be the last to support Intel-based Macs.