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Apple’s unusual OS 27 code name shift could reflect AI strategy changes, or nothing at all

While WWDC 2026 is months away, more information is leaking about iOS 27 and the other releases. A strange internal change has occurred — OS 26 codenames have shifted mid-development.

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It is no secret that technology firms love their internal codenames, which almost never hold any real connection to the final product they represent. That’s especially been true of Apple, but they tend to stay the same for each OS during development.

In one small section of the most recent Power On Newsletter from Mark Gurman, he mentions a strange shift in internal naming for iOS 27 and macOS 27. Their code names were Buttercup and Honeycrisp respectively previously, but now they are Rave and Fizz.

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