See all the macOS naming locations in this Apple Maps guide

Take a look at where macOS Catalina's wallpaper was shot

Unbelievably, the last OS X named after a type cat was ten years ago. Back in 2013, the then-current OS X Mountain Lion was replaced by OS X Mavericks, named after the surfing area in California.

Since then, we've gone through a further nine iterations of the Mac operating system. All were named after areas in California, and as of 2016, all have been called macOS instead of OS X.

Take a look at them all

You can see all ten places that OS X and macOS versions were named after on this Apple Maps Guide — but you need to know a few things first.

Most importantly, these are the named locations, and that is not necessarily the same as where Apple's desktop wallpaper photographs were shot. From Mavericks through to Catalina, Apple commissioned gorgeous photography for each OS release, but gorgeous isn't the same as accurate.

Apple also never says where its images were taken, so there's always room for doubt. And the only truly questionable example is with 2018's macOS Mojave.

Rather than being shot in the Mojave desert, it appears that Apple's image of sand dunes was really taken in Death Valley. You can understand why Craig Federighi might have steered the marketing team away from "macOS Death Valley."

Then for Big Sur, Monterey, and now Ventura, the photography has been replaced by quite abstract illustrations.

Follow the marketing team's route

Once macOS Ventura, iOS 16, and iPadOS 16 are publicly released, you'll be able to do more than look at each location.

Thanks to the new multistop feature, you'll also be able to plan a route that takes you to all of them. Much as three friends did when they set out to recreate Apple's wallpaper photography.