Today marks the 25th anniversary of Apple launching Mac OS X, the operating system that serves as the foundation of modern-day macOS.
Apple released a public beta of Mac OS X in September 2000, and the operating system officially launched on March 24, 2001.
“Mac OS X is the future of the Mac, and we hope it will delight our customers with its unrivaled power and ease of use,” said Steve Jobs, in 2001. “The Public Beta has generated incredible feedback and support from Mac users and developers, which has helped us to make Mac OS X the most advanced operating system ever.”
Mac OS X was a next-generation, UNIX-based operating system for the Mac, succeeding the classic Mac OS operating system. It ushered in Apple’s iconic “Aqua” interface, the Dock, an improved Finder app with hierarchical navigation, and more.
“Mac OS X is the most important software from Apple since the original Macintosh operating system in 1984 that revolutionized the entire industry,” said Jobs.
In the U.S., Mac OS X was priced at $129. Apple stopped charging for macOS releases in 2013, when OS X Mavericks was released free of charge.
Mac OS X was renamed to OS X in 2012 and to macOS in 2016:
- Mac OS X 10.0 (2001): “Cheetah”
- Mac OS X 10.1 (2001): “Puma”
- Mac OS X 10.2 (2002): Jaguar
- Mac OS X 10.3 (2003): Panther
- Mac OS X 10.4 (2005): Tiger
- Mac OS X 10.5 (2007): Leopard
- Mac OS X 10.6 (2009): Snow Leopard
- Mac OS X 10.7 (2011): Lion
- OS X 10.8 (2012): Mountain Lion
- OS X 10.9 (2013): Mavericks
- OS X 10.10 (2014): Yosemite
- OS X 10.11 (2015): El Capitan
- macOS 10.12 (2016): Sierra
- macOS 10.13 (2017): High Sierra
- macOS 10.14 (2018): Mojave
- macOS 10.15 (2019): Catalina
- macOS 11 (2020): Big Sur
- macOS 12 (2021): Monterey
- macOS 13 (2022): Ventura
- macOS 14 (2023): Sonoma
- macOS 15 (2024): Sequoia
- macOS 26 (2025): Tahoe
Mac OS X was a big part of Apple’s renaissance, which began when Jobs returned to the company in the late 1990s. Big hits in those first few years after his return included the iMac in 1998, the iBook in 1999, and Mac OS X and the iPod in 2001. In this sense, it is poetic that this milestone comes just a week ahead of Apple’s 50th anniversary.
