macOS
| MacOS | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Type | Desktop operating system |
| Developer | Apple Inc. |
| Written In | C, C++, Objective-C, Swift, assembly language |
| Operating System | Darwin (XNU kernel) |
| License | Proprietary, with open-source components |
| Supported Devices | Mac computers (Apple silicon and, through macOS 26, some Intel models) |
| Release Date | March 24, 2001 (as Mac OS X) |
| Website | https://www.apple.com/macos/ |
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macOS is the desktop operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its Mac line of computers. It was first released on March 24, 2001 as Mac OS X, a system derived from NeXT's NeXTSTEP after Apple's 1997 acquisition of NeXT, and built on the Darwin core with the XNU kernel.[1] The name was shortened to OS X in 2012 and changed to macOS in 2016 to match the branding of iOS, watchOS, and tvOS.[1]
macOS is written in C, C++, Objective-C, Swift, and assembly language, and it shares its Unix-derived Darwin foundation with iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS.[1] As of June 2026 the current release is macOS 26, named Tahoe, which shipped on September 15, 2025 and is the 22nd major version of the system.[2]
The relevance of macOS to virtual and augmented reality is mostly indirect but specific. A Mac running macOS with Apple silicon is the required host for building applications for the Apple Vision Pro and its operating system visionOS, because the visionOS software development kit and its simulator run only on Apple silicon Macs.[3] macOS also powers Mac Virtual Display, a feature that places a Mac's screen inside the Vision Pro as a large virtual monitor.[4] Historically macOS hosted SteamVR for PC-style VR headsets until Valve dropped Mac support in 2020.[5]
History and naming
Apple acquired NeXT in 1997 and used that company's NeXTSTEP system as the basis for a new desktop operating system. The result, Mac OS X, was released on March 24, 2001 and was derived from OPENSTEP for Mach and FreeBSD, with an open-source core called Darwin built around the XNU kernel.[1] Apple changed the marketing name from Mac OS X to OS X in 2012, around the release of OS X Mountain Lion, and to macOS in 2016 with macOS Sierra, aligning the desktop system's name with iOS, watchOS, and tvOS.[1]
For most of its life macOS used a two-part version number (10.x) and a California place name for each release. In 2020 Apple moved the major number to 11 with macOS Big Sur, and in 2025 it changed to a year-based numbering scheme shared across all of its operating systems, so the release after macOS 15 Sequoia was named macOS 26 rather than macOS 16, with the number matching the calendar year of most of the release cycle.[1][2] Apple still markets each release by a California name; macOS 26 is named Tahoe after Lake Tahoe.[2]
A change with consequences for VR/AR development was the transition of the Mac from Intel processors to Apple's own silicon. Apple announced the move at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 22, 2020, describing a two-year transition plan.[6] macOS 11 Big Sur, released in November 2020, was the first version to run on Apple silicon, alongside the first M1-based Mac mini, MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro announced on November 11, 2020.[1][6] The transition completed in June 2023 when Apple released an Apple silicon Mac Pro and discontinued the last Intel model.[6] macOS 26 Tahoe is the final version that supports any Intel-based Mac; its successor will run only on Apple silicon.[2]
The table below lists selected releases relevant to this article.
| Version | Name | Year | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mac OS X 10.0 | Cheetah | 2001 | First release; Darwin core, XNU kernel[1] |
| OS X 10.8 | Mountain Lion | 2012 | Name shortened from Mac OS X to OS X[1] |
| macOS 10.12 | Sierra | 2016 | Name changed from OS X to macOS[1] |
| macOS 11 | Big Sur | 2020 | First version to run on Apple silicon[6] |
| macOS 14 | Sonoma | 2023 | Minimum host for the visionOS SDK and Mac Virtual Display[4] |
| macOS 15 | Sequoia | 2024 | 15.2 adds Wide and Ultrawide Mac Virtual Display on Apple silicon[4] |
| macOS 26 | Tahoe | 2025 | Current release; last version to support Intel Macs[2] |
System foundation
macOS rests on Darwin, the same open-source Unix-like core, including the XNU kernel, that underlies iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS; the higher application layers and user interface differ between the systems.[1] Developers write Mac applications mainly in Swift or the older Objective-C, using Apple's AppKit and SwiftUI interface frameworks, and they use the Metal graphics API for low-level GPU work.[1] Metal is the same low-level graphics and compute API that Apple uses across its platforms, including the rendering path on visionOS, so a developer's graphics knowledge carries between the Mac and Apple's headset.[7]
Because macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS share frameworks, several of the technologies that matter most for Apple's AR work are present on the Mac as developer tools rather than as end-user runtimes. ARKit and RealityKit, the frameworks Apple uses for tracking and 3D rendering on its mobile and headset platforms, are part of the same SDKs that ship inside Xcode on macOS, even though the Mac itself is not a head-mounted device.[8]
Role as the visionOS development host
The most direct connection between macOS and Apple's VR/AR efforts is that a Mac is required to build software for the Apple Vision Pro. Development for visionOS starts with Xcode and the visionOS SDK on a Mac, and the SDK and its simulator run only on Macs with Apple silicon, specifically M-series chips such as the M1, M2, or M3.[3] Reporting at the launch of the visionOS SDK noted that this excludes Intel Macs entirely, an unusual restriction for an Apple SDK, with the most likely explanation being that the visionOS simulator's rendering and tracking workload did not perform acceptably on Intel hardware.[3][9]
The visionOS simulator runs inside Xcode on macOS and lets a developer interact with an app and try different room layouts and lighting conditions without owning a Vision Pro headset.[8] For building the 3D content of a spatial app, Apple provides Reality Composer Pro, a Mac application with Xcode integration for assembling and previewing 3D scenes and USDZ assets for visionOS and iOS apps.[7] A developer can also preview changes live on a real Vision Pro by pairing it with Reality Composer Pro on the Mac.[7] For on-device debugging, a Vision Pro can be connected to a Mac with a USB-C cable through the headset's Developer Strap, which Apple recommends for the best development experience.[8]
Because visionOS reuses macOS and iOS frameworks such as SwiftUI, RealityKit, and ARKit, the development skills and much of the code carry over from the Mac and iPhone to Apple's headset, which is one reason a large library of existing apps became available on visionOS soon after launch.[8]
Mac Virtual Display on Apple Vision Pro
macOS is also one end of Mac Virtual Display, a Vision Pro feature that shows a Mac's screen inside the headset as a single large virtual monitor and lets the user share one pointer between the Mac and the headset using the Mac's trackpad or mouse.[4] Mac Virtual Display works with any Mac running macOS 14 Sonoma or later, and it establishes a direct wireless link between the Mac and the Vision Pro rather than routing through the local Wi-Fi network.[4] Both devices must have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled, be signed in to the same Apple Account with two-factor authentication, and have iCloud Keychain turned on.[4]
The resolution and aspect ratio depend on the Mac. An Apple silicon Mac can present its screen in a 16:9 Standard ratio at up to 5K (5120 by 2880), while an Intel Mac is limited to up to 3K.[4] Wider layouts require newer software: with a Mac on macOS 15.2 Sequoia or later and a Vision Pro on visionOS 2.2 or later, Apple silicon Macs can use a 21:9 Wide mode up to 6720 by 2880 pixels and a 32:9 Ultrawide mode up to 10240 by 2880 pixels.[4] Input comes from the Mac's keyboard, trackpad, or a connected Bluetooth mouse, and Mac audio can play through the Vision Pro's speakers.[4]
| Mode | Aspect ratio | Maximum resolution (Apple silicon) | Minimum software |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 16:9 | 5120 x 2880 (5K) | macOS 14 Sonoma[4] |
| Wide | 21:9 | 6720 x 2880 | macOS 15.2 + visionOS 2.2[4] |
| Ultrawide | 32:9 | 10240 x 2880 | macOS 15.2 + visionOS 2.2[4] |
Third-party software extends Mac-to-headset streaming beyond Apple's own hardware. Virtual Desktop, a paid streaming application, released a rewritten macOS streamer on April 1, 2025 that streams a Mac's display to Android-based standalone headsets such as the Meta Quest 3 and the Pico 4 Ultra.[10] Virtual Desktop's developer said the macOS streamer offers a higher frame rate and lower latency than Mac Virtual Display and can present multiple virtual monitors, though Mac Virtual Display retains the advantage of a direct connection that does not depend on Wi-Fi.[10] That same tool cannot stream true PC VR content from a Mac, because, as the article notes, neither Meta's PC VR runtime nor Valve's SteamVR supports macOS.[10]
PC VR support and its end on macOS
Before Apple shipped the Vision Pro, the main way to use a tethered VR headset with a Mac was SteamVR, Valve's runtime for headsets such as the HTC Vive. Apple demonstrated SteamVR running on macOS in 2017 and worked with Valve and others on Mac VR support, but the effort was short-lived.[1] In a forum update first reported on May 1, 2020, Valve said it had ended SteamVR support for macOS so that its team could focus on Windows and Linux.[5][11] Coverage at the time attributed the decision to a very small Mac VR audience and to Mac hardware that often did not meet the minimum specifications of Oculus or SteamVR headsets.[5][11]
Since then, mainstream PC VR runtimes have not returned to macOS. As of 2026 there is no official SteamVR or Meta PC VR runtime for the Mac, which is why Mac users who want PC-tethered VR generally run Windows on their hardware, and why Mac-to-headset streaming tools are limited to mirroring the desktop rather than running native VR.[10][5]
Relationship to other Apple platforms
macOS sits within a family of operating systems that share the Darwin core and a large set of frameworks. iOS and iPadOS are the mobile members, and visionOS is the spatial-computing member that runs on the Apple Vision Pro.[1][8] Apple describes visionOS as built on the same foundation as macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, reusing frameworks such as SwiftUI, RealityKit, and ARKit and adding spatial systems on top.[8] This shared base is the reason a Mac is both the place where visionOS apps are built and a device whose screen can appear inside the headset, and it ties the desktop operating system to Apple's broader AR and mixed-reality strategy even though macOS itself runs on conventional computers rather than head-mounted displays.[8][4]
Current status
As of June 2026 the current release is macOS 26 Tahoe, which shipped on September 15, 2025 and is the last version to support Intel-based Macs; future releases will run only on Apple silicon.[2] An Apple silicon Mac remains the required host for visionOS development, and the developer tools for spatial apps, including Reality Composer Pro, continue to be updated alongside visionOS; the Reality Composer Pro 3 beta requires macOS 26.5 or later.[3][7] Mac Virtual Display is a standard Vision Pro feature for using a Mac inside the headset, while PC-style VR through SteamVR or Meta's runtime is still unavailable on macOS.[4][10]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 "macOS". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "macOS Tahoe". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_Tahoe.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "PSA: Developing visionOS apps requires an Apple Silicon Mac". 2024-01-09. https://9to5mac.com/2024/01/09/visionos-sdk-apple-silicon-mac/.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 "Use your Mac with Apple Vision Pro". https://support.apple.com/en-us/118521.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Valve drops VR support for macOS". 2020-05-01. https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/01/valve-drops-vr-support-for-macos/.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Mac transition to Apple silicon". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_transition_to_Apple_silicon.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Augmented Reality Tools - Reality Composer Pro". https://developer.apple.com/augmented-reality/tools/.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 "visionOS Overview". https://developer.apple.com/visionos/.
- ↑ "Developers take note: Apple Silicon is required to develop apps for visionOS". 2023-10-03. https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/10/03/developers-take-note-apple-silicon-is-required-to-develop-apps-for-visionos.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "Virtual Desktop's New macOS Update Is Smoother Than Apple's Mac Virtual Display". 2025-04-01. https://www.uploadvr.com/virtual-desktop-macos-streamer-update/.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Valve Ends SteamVR Support For macOS". 2020-05-01. https://www.uploadvr.com/steamvr-drops-mac-support/.