As part of its list of supposed hardware upgrades coming to Apple’s pro-level iMacs later this year, the Pike’s Universum blog mentioned in passing that the next major version of macOS (10.13) won’t use a mountain or a park name anymore.
Citing a “little bird” that is “usually pretty accurate”, Pike’s Universum states that there are now two alternative names in the running, with one starting with the letter M.
In April 2014, Apple applied for a number of trademarks in Trinidad and Tobago.
These include well-known California landmarks and related terms which at the time were interpreted as hints at future macOS versions, including the following names:
- California
- Big Sur
- Condor
- Diablo
- El Cap
- Farallon
- Grizzly
- Mammoth
- Monterey
- Miramar
- Pacific
- Red Tail
- Redwood
- Rincon
- Sequoia
- Shasta
- Sierra
- Skyline
- Sonoma
- Tiburon
- Ventura
- Yosemite
Some of the trademarked names have been used in recent macOS releases, like Yosemite, El Capitan and Sierra. Others, including Sonoma, Sequoia or Ventura, have never been adopted as official names for macOS releases.
Most of the unused macOS names on the list—especially ones starting with the letter M—represent major California landmarks, national parks, vineyards, beaches and so forth, with one notable exception.
Can you guess which is it?
It’s Monterey, neither a mountain or a park name.
A city on California’s rugged central coast, Monterey with its famous Cannery Row is a popular tourist destination filled with gift shops, seafood restaurants and bars in converted factories. Monterey Bay Aquarium, with thousands of marine animals and plants on display in underwater and interactive exhibits, is especially famous.
So, macOS Monterey 10.3, anyone?
Source: Pike’s Universum