On March 24, local time, Apple celebrated the 25th anniversary of the official release of Mac OS X. This operating system is regarded as the technical foundation of today’s macOS and an important turning point in Apple’s re-emergence in the personal computer field. Apple released a beta version of Mac OS X to the public in September 2000, and officially launched the first consumer version on March 24, 2001.
At the time, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said: "Mac OS
As a new generation of UNIX-based operating system, Mac OS X replaces the classic Mac OS, marking a comprehensive upgrade of Mac in terms of underlying technology and user experience. The first version introduces features such as the highly recognizable "Aqua" interface, Dock, and new Finder that supports hierarchical navigation. It is completely different from previous systems in terms of visual design and interaction methods. Jobs commented at the time: "Mac OS X is Apple's most important piece of software since the original Macintosh operating system revolutionized the entire industry in 1984."
In the U.S. market, Mac OS X will initially sell for $129. Since then, with the launch of OS X Mavericks in 2013, Apple stopped charging upgrade fees for new versions of macOS and switched to a free update model. This strategy continues today. Over time, the brand naming of Mac OS X has also continued to evolve: it was simplified to "OS
In terms of version iterations, Mac OS X and macOS have experienced multiple generations of major updates in the past 25 years: Mac OS "Leopard", in 2009 it was 10.6 "Snow Leopard" and in 2011 it was 10.7 "Lion". Since then, it has entered the OS X naming phase, with 10.8 "Mountain Lion" released in 2012, 10.9 "Mavericks" in 2013, 10.10 "Yosemite" in 2014, and 10.11 "El Capitan" in 2015. The system has been officially renamed macOS since 2016. 10.12 “Sierra”, 10.13 “High Sierra”, 10.14 “Mojave”, and 10.15 “Catalina” have been launched one after another. The macOS 11 “Big Sur” released in 2020 brought significant changes in the interface and architecture, followed by macOS 12 “Monterey” in 2021 and macOS 13 in 2022. “Ventura,” macOS 14 “Sonoma” in 2023, macOS 15 “Sequoia” in 2024, and the latest macOS 26 “Tahoe” in 2025.
Looking back at history, Mac OS X is considered a key part of Apple's "revival" process. After Jobs returned to the company in the late 1990s, Apple launched a series of iconic products in just a few years, including the iMac in 1998, the iBook in 1999, and Mac OS X and the iPod in 2001, laying the foundation for decades of growth. It is worth mentioning that the 25th anniversary of the official release of Mac OS