macOS Big Sur will be version 10.16, not 10.15.6 or 10.15.7 or … well, you get the idea. The most current version of macOS is macOS 10.15.5.
Apple announced this during today’s “Platform State of the Union” at the virtual 2020 Worldwide Developer Conference. The session involved Apple engineering leaders as they did a “deep dive” into the latest advances across macOS, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS.
“macOS Big Sur is a major update that advances the legendary combination of the power of UNIX with the ease of use of the Mac, and delivers our biggest update to design in more than a decade,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, says in a press release. “With its modern and clean look, huge improvements to key apps including Safari, Messages, and Maps, and new privacy features, we think everyone is going to love the breakthrough experience that macOS Big Sur offers.”
By the way, if you’re wondering what “Big Sur” (not the operating system) is, it refers to a 90-mile stretch of beautiful California coastline between Carmel to the north and San Simeon (Hearst Castle) to the south. Highway One winds along its length and is flanked on one side by the majestic Santa Lucia Mountains and on the other by the rocky Pacific Coast.
