MacOS Tahoe
22nd major version of the macOS operating system
macOS Tahoe (version 26) is the twenty-second major release of Apple's macOS operating system. The successor to macOS Sequoia, it was announced at WWDC 2025 on June 9, 2025, and its first developer beta was released the same day. It was released on September 15, 2025.
It was succeeded by macOS Golden Gate on September 14, 2026.
Tahoe is the final version of macOS that supports x86-64-based Macs with Intel processors – the 2020 iMac, the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro, the 2020 four-port 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the 2019 Mac Pro models – as its successor, macOS Golden Gate, only works on Macs with Apple silicon systems on a chip (SoCs). It is the first version of macOS since Mac OS X Snow Leopard that cannot be upgraded from an older version via the Mac App Store; upgrading it is exclusively available through the System Settings software update preference pane, as is the case with iOS and iPadOS.
Development
macOS Tahoe was announced by Apple's senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 9, 2025. The first developer beta was released the same day.
At the conference, Apple announced that it was unifying the version numbers of its operating systems by designating them all with the year after their release, like vehicle model years. Federighi said that macOS versions will still primarily be marketed using release names: macOS 26 is named "Tahoe" (after Lake Tahoe, a lake that straddles the border of California and Nevada), continuing Apple's current practice of naming macOS releases after locations in California.
Features
Apple said that macOS Tahoe introduces several features and improvements, mainly focused on the user interface.
The public source identifies “MacOS Tahoe” as 22nd major version of the macOS operating system. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around MacOS, Tahoe and 22nd.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “MacOS Tahoe”, the useful work is to connect “22nd major version of the macOS operating system” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q134778562. None of the 5 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2025, 2026, 2020 and 2019.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “MacOS Tahoe”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow MacOS Tahoe primary sources, MacOS Tahoe archive and MacOS research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “MacOS Tahoe”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “MacOS Tahoe” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.