macOS 10.13 release date, news and rumors

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At this year’s WWDC 2017, Apple is expected to reveal macOS 10.13, its follow-up to last year’s macOS 10.12 Sierra operating system for desktop Mac and MacBook devices.

Last year’s update to the Mac OS X of old was very well received, bringing better integration between Macs running the software and iPhones and Apple Watch devices

With the reveal of macOS 10.13 likely only a few hours away – find out how you can watch the WWDC keynote live – here’s what we know so far about the new operating system from Apple.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? The 2017 edition of Apple’s Mac operating system, macOS
• When is it out? Likely June 5 announcement and September launch
• What will it cost? macOS 10.13 will be free to download

macOS 10.13 release date

It’s widely assumed that macOS 10.13 will be revealed today (June 5, 2017) at the WWDC 2017 keynote event. This is a rather safe bet, as it's traditional for Apple to announce the latest version of its Mac OS X (later renamed macOS) software at its annual developer event and showcase.

But when will we be able to download and use macOS 10.13? If you’re really keen to try it out – and if you don’t mind using early software that’s potentially buggy and incomplete – then you’ll probably be able to download the macOS 10.13 beta shortly after the WWDC keynote.

Apple usually releases updates at 10:00 PDT (13:00 ET, 18:00 BST, 03:00 the following day AEST), so it’s worth checking out the beta.apple.com website to see if it's available.

To download the early version of macOS 10.13 you’ll need to sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program.

Bear in mind that this is early software, so we wouldn’t recommend running it on your Mac or MacBook that you rely on every day. 

There will likely be a public macOS 10.13 beta in July, which will be more stable and feature-complete, but for many people we’d recommend waiting until the final version, which we think will launch in mid-September, as previous versions have.

What will macOS 10.13 be called?

It’s been a while since Apple stopped naming its operating systems after big cats; instead we’re likely to see a name based on a location in California, which has been the theme since OX X 10.9 Mavericks in 2013.

In 2014 Apple trademarked a number of names of iconic Californian locations, including towns, mountains and deserts.

Names from that list that haven’t been used yet are: Redwood, Mammoth, California, Big Sur, Pacific, Diablo, Miramar, Rincon, Redtail, Condor, Grizzly, Farallon, Tiburon, Monterey, Skyline, Shasta, Mojave, Sequoia, Ventura, and Sonoma.

Meanwhile, another rumor suggests that Apple will use a name that begins with ‘M’, and that it won’t use a mountain or park name. From that list, this narrows it down to Monterey, a town in California.

So, will we see macOS 10.13 Monterey? We’ll find out in a few hours…