To date, Apple has made a number of operating systems available for their computers. Until 2001, these were known as System Software, or the classic Mac OS. Then came Mac OS X until 2021, OS X until 2016, and ultimately, macOS up to this point. Many users are perplexed by the huge cat-themed macOS versions, which have recently been given Californian town names. So let’s examine each of the Apple Mac OS (macOS) Operating Systems in turn today.
All Apple Mac OS Operating Systems (macOS Versions) in Order
The Mac OS (macOS) Operating Systems are listed below in chronological order:
- Grail1Z4 / Titan1U Rhapsody Developer Release (August 31, 1997)
- Hera Mac OS X Server 1.0 (March 16, 1999)
- Un known Mac OS X Developer Preview (March 16, 1999)
- Kodiak Mac OS X Public Beta (September 13, 2000)
- Cheetah Mac OS X 10.0 (March 24, 2001)
- Puma Mac OS X 10.1 (September 25, 2001)
- Jaguar Mac OS X 10.2 (August 24, 2002)
- Panther Mac OS X 10.3 (October 24, 2003)
- Tiger Mac OS X 10.4 (April 29, 2005)
- Leopard Mac OS X 10.5 (October 26, 2007)
- Snow Leopard Mac OS X 10.6 (August 28, 2009)
- Lion Mac OS X 10.7 (July 20, 2011)
- Mountain Lion OS X 10.8 (July 25, 2012)
- Mavericks OS X 10.9 (October 22, 2013)
- Yosemite OS X 10.10 (October 16, 2014)
- El Capitan OS X 10.11 (September 30, 2015)
- Sierra macOS 10.12 (September 20, 2016)
- High Sierra macOS 10.13 (September 25, 2017)
- Mojave macOS 10.14 (September 24, 2018)
- Catalina macOS 10.15 (October 7, 2019)
- Big Sur macOS 11 (November 12, 2020)
- Monterey macOS 12 (October 25, 2021)
Apple had nine significant operating system iterations prior to the release of Mac OS X 10.0, which the development community currently refers to as Classic macOS. Let’s have a peek at the vintage Apple Mac OS below as well.
Classic Mac OS Versions in Order
Following is a list of each of Apple’s significant Classic Mac OS releases, listed alphabetically:
- Macintosh System Software System 1 (January 24, 1984)
- System Software 2 System 0.3 & 0.5 (April 1985)
- System Software 3 System 0.7 (January 1986)
- Apple System Software 4 System 2.0 (January 1987)
- Apple System Software 5 System 5.0 (October 1987)
- System Software 6 System 6.0 (April 1988)
- System 7 / Mac OS 7.6 System 7.0 (May 13, 1991)
- Mac OS 8 Tempo (July 26, 1997)
- Mac OS 9 Sonata (October 23, 1999)
The order of the previous and most recent Apple Mac OS (macOS) Operating Systems is as follows. Check out our most recent iOS guides while you’re here at Technclub to learn additional advice on managing the Apple ecosystem.
