Apple’s Big OS Rebrand, OnePlus Embraces AI, and Samsung’s Next Folds—Your Gear News of the Week

Confused by Apple’s naming conventions? You’re not the only one. Bloomberg reports that this year at WWDC, Apple plans to announce a broad overhaul of all of its operating systems. That includes renaming them to be more consistent. Starting this year, Apple will reportedly begin denoting each OS version for each product by year, instead of by version. Confusingly, it will start with the next year, rather than this year (just like cars). So the versions we’ll see at this year’s WWDC will not be iOS 25, but rather iOS 26, watchOS 26, and so on, in place of iOS 19 and watchOS 12.

The move is reportedly part of a larger push toward a cohesive user experience across platforms. The overhaul could encompass everything from updated icons, apps, buttons, and a fresh design language, and it’s expected to be universal across all the operating systems. Apple’s fundamentally simple and irresistible user interface is a core part of the company’s DNA, so it will be interesting to see how customers react to a big redesign (hopefully better than the Apple Photos redesign). We’ll find out at WWDC, which kicks off on June 9 at 1 pm ET. —Adrienne So

OnePlus Succumbs to AI

After a light smattering of features when it launched the OnePlus 13 in January, OnePlus is now ready to go all in on AI for its phones. Its approach is quite similar to what Nothing introduced a few months ago on the Nothing Phone (3a) series: a dedicated AI button on the side of the phone, though this one replaces the original OnePlus Alert Slider.

Dubbed the Plus Key, you can customize it to trigger specific apps or shortcuts on the phone, with an interface that looks almost exactly like Apple’s Action Button. By default, it launches AI Plus Mind, a system that will save whatever’s on the screen so you can recall it later. The idea is that you’ll press it when you see an ad for a concert while browsing, or an event invite—pressing the Plus Key will save the relevant info in the companion app, and the app will extract helpful info to create a calendar event on your behalf.

The Plus Key and AI Plus Mind will debut first on the OnePlus 13s, a phone launching in select markets this June; it’s not coming to the US. Later this year, the AI features will roll out to the OnePlus 13 series, with other devices to follow. OnePlus says it’s actively working on more features like AI VoiceScribe, to record, summarize, and translate calls and meetings; AI Translation, to consolidate all translation capabilities into one app; and AI Reframe, to adjust the composition of your shots with generative AI.

Samsung’s Next Folding Phones are Coming

Samsung is rumored to announce its next generation of folding phones sometime this summer—the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Z Flip7—and the company officially confirmed this in a blog post announcing the rollout of the One UI 8 beta program. One UI is the name of Samsung’s Android layer, and version eight is based on the upcoming version of Android 16.

Courtesy of Samsung