Apple (AAPL) may be planning to change the name of its desktop operating system to MacOS, judging by recent clues.
The operating system has used the name OS X since 1999, when it emerged as the successor to Mac OS—plus ça change and all that.
According to 9to5Mac, a new Apple web page about its environmental initiatives referred to “MacOS” as the operating system for computers such as the MacBook and iMac. That reference has since been tweaked to boring old “OS X.”
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A simple mistake? Maybe, but a Brazilian site recently spotted a “MacOS” reference in the latest version of OS X, which was released last month.
The new/old name would certainly be more in line with Apple’s other operating-system names, such as iOS, watchOS and tvOS.
Incidentally, the point of that environmental-initiatives page was for Apple to explain its product life cycles. In case you’re wondering, it expects desktop and Apple TV devices to be used for four years, and iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches to be used for three.