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The speed with which new versions of major operating systems are implemented is a significant change in recent years in the enterprise IT industry. For a very long time, IT would have kept users on an older version of operating systems for several months (if not years) to maintain compatibility with legacy systems, but that is changing.
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The 18-month release schedule for OS X
For many years in the OS X era, Apple routinely updated the operating system every 18 months or so. These were big updates that generally changed the platform a bit. At that time, Apple was not as widely used in the business as it is today. People using their Macs at work were probably using them in an unmanaged way, so they had 100% control over when they applied updates to the operating system.
Switch to annual release cycles
Eventually, Apple moved to an annual release cycle for macOS that matched iOS and then added tvOS and watchOS. So over the last few years you could predict that at WWDC Apple would unveil brand new versions of its operating systems on all of its devices, followed by a summer beta period with the public release in the fall.
Quick update for security
To recap, we’ve gone from 18-month release cycles to annual release cycles. For IT, it’s a peer shorter window, however. few months ago after the version that requires additional support, training, testing of new updates, and initial bug fixes. Assuming this is completed by the end of the calendar year, IT can start the next year fairly stable in terms of OS version for their users (Mac and iOS). June comes quickly again, and the cycle begins all over. As you can see, macOS and iOS have 12 month release cycles, but it’s probably 6 months for IT departments.
You might be wondering why the IT department isn’t just doing what it used to do and keeping employees on older operating systems for corporate devices? The problem is twofold. The first is that employees are more aware of the latest features in new operating systems, so they want to upgrade despite the early bugs. The second is that security has become such a critical concern for IT that staying on old operating systems for long is a terrible decision for a business looking to defend against cyberattacks. Today, macOS Monterey and iOS 15 are the most secure operating systems Apple has ever shipped. For businesses that want to stay ahead of threats, upgrading their devices as quickly as possible helps them in this endeavor.
Apple continues to update older operating systems for essential security updates, but it is recommended that you update as soon as possible.
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