2020 is the Twentieth Anniversary of Mac OS X What does the future hold ?

[trs96]

Mac OS X was first introduced almost 20 years ago in September 2000. With that anniversary coming up we have high hopes for the 20th anniversary version of the Mac operating system. WWDC this year will possibly feature this new version of macOS on an ARM based laptop/Macbook.

Apple appears to see this year as the perfect time to announce the new direction for their 20 year old Mac OS X / macOS operating system. This is why you see the 20 over 20 on every promotional image. They had hoped to have Apple Glass ready to show off this year (20/20 vision ?) but that product is not ready yet. So on the 22nd of this month (two 2s again) they are focusing on announcing their new macOS ARM based laptop. This is reported to have it's own 12 core variant of the A14 chip that will debut in the iPhone 12 this Fall.

It is expected to have 12 cores and be capable of running a full featured version of macOS. The newest version of the iPad Pro runs on an 8 core A12X processor designed by Apple. This new Mac may even be FaceID capable, just like the latest iPhones are. See the Memoji based ad below with the lit up faces in it. Just the way that real human faces glow when using FaceID.

Since DC stands for Developers Conference they are hoping that this new MacBook will be the product of choice for developers who may already use a Mac for their development work or even those just starting out as developers. This is why we'll see a new custom version of the A14 A-series chip in a thin and portable laptop. They can design them to work perfectly with the next macOS version that is tailored for A series processors. These new Macs will be more secure because they will not have all the Intel CPU vulnerabilities that are constantly being discovered and patched.

Apple can sell this new device for a lot less money than a new Macbook Pro which may sell for well over 2000 dollars (not all developers are rich). The chips they design and build will cost them from 40-60 % less than the equivalent ones they'd buy from Intel. Note how Apple sells the new iPhone SE with an A13 Bionic at a full retail price of $399. I predict this new ARM based Macbook will start at around $799. Maybe slightly more.

Apple wants younger and older devs to get drawn into and locked into their ecosystem so that this transition of macOS over the next 3-5 years or so goes smoothly. App developers are the key component to their success as they focus more on revenue from services as opposed to selling devices, such as iPhones, going forward.

All the iOS games that work on the iPhone and iPad will also run natively on this new Mac laptop. Young gamers will love it for this reason as well. When you take a break from developing apps you're going to do some gaming and have fun.

Tim Cook sees AR as a major part of the future roadmap for Apple. When they transition Macs to running an ARM version of macOS they will be included in that future. With their ARM based, custom designed CPUs in every product they make, each will be capable of adding to this development. In case you weren't aware, Apple has been working on AR for over ten years now. It won't be long till we see a marketable product. Estimates say in 2022. The goal is to have your Apple Glasses work with your iPhone, iPad Pro and your Mac desktop as well.

So get ready for a potential look at the future roadmap this coming Monday the 22nd. Starts online only at 10 AM PDT.

Wikipedia entry for Mac OS X or macOS as it's now known.

macOS is based on the Unix operating system and on technologies developed between 1985 and 1997 at NeXT, a company that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs created after leaving Apple in 1985. The "X" in Mac OS X and OS X is the Roman numeral for the number 10 and is pronounced as such. The X was a prominent part of the operating system's brand identity and marketing in its early years, but gradually receded in prominence since the release of Snow Leopard in 2009. UNIX 03 certification was achieved for the Intel version of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard[13] and all releases from Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard up to the current version also have UNIX 03 certification.[14] macOS shares its Unix-based core, named Darwin, and many of its frameworks with iOS,[15] iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

 

[trs96]

So where does this upcoming, soon to be announced new direction for macOS leave us ? It's also widely predicted that Apple will announce a new 23 inch iMac which has a 10th gen Comet Lake Intel CPU inside. So when you look at the average length of 5-6 years of support for that new iMac it does leave us plenty of time to keep using our hackintosh machines with the latest macOS version. There's not much chance that Apple would sell these in the Fall of 2020 and then cut off support in 1-2 years. They have some kind of plan to continue supporting x86 architecture, Intel based Macs. I really can't see Apple making the transition to using their own A series chips in all Macs within the next 18 months. That's what they did back in 2006/7 when Jobs was the CEO. This planned transition is what we'll learn more about on Monday the 22nd.

Apple is developing a new 23-inch iMac that could be be released in Q4 of this year, with mass production beginning in Q3. Apple last updated the iMac in March of last year, bringing new 9th-generation Intel processors.

One possibility would be that the 23-inch iMac is the same physical size as the existing 21.5-inch model, but with reduced bezel sizes. The iMac is long overdue for a design refresh, and this would be a logical change to offer more screen real estate in a similar physical footprint.

9 to 5 Mac

 

[CaseySJ]

A more recent video by René Ritchie suggests macOS 10.16 might simply be called macOS 16, making it consistent with the rest of the family that is known only by a number.

A transition to ARM unifies the processors. A transition to "macOS 16" unifies the names.

 

[zipb]

I remember the introduction of OSX. Mr. Jobs had already tinkered a bit with Unix(NextStep), so he decided to put a mainframe OS on a personal computer. Way to go, Steve! Great idea, having an OS made for hundreds of dumb terminals connected to a powerful mainframe as the OS of a personal computer with just one user! Well. At least the basic code wasn't made by a bunch of amateurs.
I kept using OS9 for years after, as OSX was not exactly made for real time stuff like audio and video. BeOS was much better for this(I stil have an install CD), but didn't take off.

 

[trs96]

Back in 2005 I borrowed a friends PowerBook G4 that was running Tiger and was really impressed with it. Was years ahead of XP at the time. Decided to buy a Mac mini that year and start using OS X. Was a really good decision for me.

 

[Bustycat]

A more recent video by René Ritchie suggests macOS 10.16 might simply be called macOS 16, making it consistent with the rest of the family that is known only by a number.

A transition to ARM unifies the processors. A transition to "macOS 16" unifies the names.

So Cheetah is macOS 0.

 

[trs96]

So Cheetah is macOS 0.

Apple called it 10.0 as you can see in the Wiki page.

 

[CaseySJ]

So Cheetah is macOS 0.

Cheetah is and shall always be macOS 10.0. Just as Catalina is and shall always be 10.15. We should reinvent the future, not rewrite history.

The new numbering scheme -- if it occurs -- will begin with macOS 16. It's still a big "if", however.

 

[CaseySJ]

Uh-oh, possibly no new hardware to be announced tomorrow...(possibly).

Multiple Leaks Suggest No New Hardware at WWDC

Apple has scrapped plans to reveal any new hardware at WWDC tomorrow, according to leakers Jon Prosser and Max Weinbach who shared the information on...

www.macrumors.com

 

[trs96]

Uh-oh, possibly no new hardware to be announced tomorrow...

May be that Apple is so disgusted with all the leaking that they want to prove them wrong this time. The leaks have gotten really accurate lately and this is their way to fight back against the trend. I'll watch WWDC anyway. They may have a separate hardware only event in the Fall a month or two after the iPhone 12 launch. That would be OK with me.

This could also be an attempt by Apple to catch the person(s) who are leaking from the inside of Apple. If they only let a few people know this and then the leak happens it makes it easier to figure who the culprit is.