What Will macOS 10.15 Be Called: Mammoth, Monterey, Rincon, Skyline, or Something Else?

Following Apple's shift to California-themed names for its Mac operating systems with OS X Mavericks back in 2013, Apple appeared to take steps to protect a number of other California-related names by filing for trademarks under a series of shell companies intended to mask the true identity of the applicant.

macos 10 15 names
All told, we identified 19 trademarks that were applied for under six different companies that all appeared to be Apple shell companies. Several of these names, including Yosemite, Sierra, and Mojave, have been used by Apple, while others have yet to be put to use.

Over the years, the trademark review process has played out for all of these applications, with most being subject to some form of back-and-forth between the applicants and examiners involving various approvals, denials, and suspensions. Even for approvals, however, owners are required to submit proof of the trademarks being used in commerce. This Statement of Use can be submitted up to 36 months after trademark approval, as long as the applicant regularly requests successive 6-month extensions to the original 6-month submission period.

With over five years having passed since the trademarks were applied for, many have now been abandoned, either at some point during the review process or through failure to provide proof of commercial use following approval. In fact, of the original 19 names that were included in the trademark applications, all but four of them have been either used by Apple or abandoned, with the remaining live applications being Mammoth, Monterey, Rincon, and Skyline.

Perhaps the most interesting one is Mammoth, which is likely related to Mammoth Lakes and Mammoth Mountain, a popular area for skiing and hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Notably, the trademark application for Mammoth was just approved earlier this month after many years of delays and a suspension. It's seen quite a bit of activity over the past six months, with the applicant Yosemite Research LLC having made some changes to reactivate the suspended application and shifting the attorney of record on the application to be noted trademark attorney Glenn Gundersen, who has worked with Apple on a number of intellectual property issues in the past.

mammoth trademark
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the registration for Mammoth and published it for opposition in March. After receiving no opposition to the trademark registration, the Mammoth trademark was officially allowed earlier this month on May 7. It's certainly possible that the timing is a coincidence, especially since the activity appears to have been driven by deadlines set by the Patent and Trademark Office in its communications regarding the suspended application, but the fact that the trademark was approved just weeks ago after years of relative inaction certainly caught our attention.

Monterey, a historic city and popular vacation spot on the Pacific coast, has been one of the popular macOS name options among our readers, so many will be happy to hear that this one remains a possibility. The trademark was applied for by Asilomar Enterprises LLC in December 2013, but wasn't allowed until June 12, 2018. One extension to the Statement of Use requirement has been granted, and Asilomar will have until June 2021 to prove commercial use of the name, provided additional extensions are requested.

Rincon is a popular surfing area in Southern California, and a trademark on that term was applied for by Landmark Associates LLC. The trademark was allowed on August 2, 2016, and Landmark has applied for successive extensions for the Statement of Use, with the fifth and final extension having been granted in January of this year. As a result, Landmark has until August of this year to prove the Rincon name is actively being used, or else the trademark will be lost.

Finally, Skyline likely relates to the scenic Skyline Boulevard that largely follows the ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains running south from San Francisco, and Antalos Apps LLC filed for a trademark on the name in December 2013. The trademark was allowed on March 20, 2018, and the second Statement of Use extension was granted on February 28 of this year. The owner will have until March 2021 to prove use of Skyline in commerce, provided all necessary extensions are requested.

So what will macOS 10.15 be called? Will it be one of these four, or something completely different? Apple has drawn from the original list of trademark applications the majority of the time over the past five releases, but has selected something new a couple of times. One of Apple's presumed shell companies applied for a trademark on the name El Cap, but Apple opted to go with the famous mountain's full name of El Capitan for OS X 10.11, while 2017's macOS 10.13 High Sierra was positioned as a refinement of the previous year's macOS Sierra.

Related Forum: macOS Catalina

Top Rated Comments

oneMadRssn Avatar
63 months ago
Cat-names were so much cooler.
Score: 58 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Khedron Avatar
63 months ago
Who cares. I'll never use it. This is the one that arbitrarily makes all my "unoptimised" applications no longer work, right?
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macdos Avatar
63 months ago
MacOS 10.15 Death Valley
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4487549 Avatar
63 months ago
Joshua Tree (pre-loaded with a free album from U2)
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
baconsandwich Avatar
63 months ago
Mammoth would be terrible naming. A huge beast, slow and not very agile. Also extinct.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cthart Avatar
63 months ago
Just drop the "10" -- that bit never changes anyway. Just call it macOS 15. Stop using names. iOS doesn't have names. tvOS doesn't have names. watchOS doesn't have names.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
iPhone Home Screen Gradient Blank Spaces 1

Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid

Sunday March 24, 2024 1:33 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
iPad Pro 2024 Landscape Camera Feature

New iPad Pro Again Rumored to Feature Landscape Front-Facing Camera

Monday March 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
sonoma desktop wwdc

Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 With Fix for USB Hub Bug

Monday March 25, 2024 10:10 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The ‌‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌ 14.4‌.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18 Will Finally Bring This Android Feature to iPhone

Monday March 25, 2024 6:42 am PDT by
iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to place app icons anywhere on the Home Screen grid, according to sources familiar with development of the software update. This basic feature has long been available on Android smartphones. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, our sources said that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18....