iOS 19 Development Reportedly Begins at Apple for 2025 Release; Said to Be Codenamed Luck

Apple has reportedly begun developing the next year's operating systems for its devices. The report comes just a month after the Cupertino-based tech giant unveiled iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, watchOS 11, and visionOS 2 at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024. iOS 18, which will be publicly rolled out this fall, gets home screen customisation, Control Center improvements, RCS support, and more. While not much is known about what iOS 19 may bring, it is said that the company has codenamed it Luck.

Apple reportedly begins developing iOS 19, macOS 16, others

The information comes from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter, which mentions that the company has formally begun developing 2025's major operating systems. These include iOS 19 for the iPhone, macOS 16 for Mac devices, watchOS 12 for the Apple Watch, and visionOS 3 for the Apple Vision Pro.

Citing unnamed sources, Gurman claims Apple has also allotted dedicated codenames for each of the abovementioned operating systems. While iOS 19 is being called Luck, macOS 16 has been codenamed Cheer. The watchOS 12 is being called Nepali internally whereas visionOS 3 gets the internal name Discovery. Notably, these codenames do not mean anything about the new features the OS might carry.

The report highlighted that the company's work for next year's operating systems begins at a time when it is also fine-tuning the current year's OS that will be rolled out in fall. However, this is not unusual for the tech giant, which usually starts its software building process this time of the year. Gurman also claims that the company has also begun developing the hardware products for the next year, and will require the software to test the devices.

Since it is very early in the software development cycle, no new features or changes are known at this stage. However, leaks are expected to arrive in the coming days. Separately, Apple is also gearing up to publicly launch iOS 18 later this year. Recently, the company released the iOS 18 Developer Beta 2 with the iPhone Mirroring, a new toggle for RCS Messaging (currently not activated), and a new dark-themed icon for the App Store.