Apple's OS X could be re-named macOS, hidden code seems to indicate

The new name would bring the computer operating system in line with iOS, watchOS and tvOS

Tim Cook walks off stage after speaking during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at the Moscone West center on June 2, 2014 in San Francisco, California (Getty)

Apple could be about to rename its operating system for computers.

The company could stop calling the software that powers its Mac laptops and desktop computers OS X and instead start referring to it as macOS, according to code found deep in a current version of the system.

The new name was found by a developer in a special framework called “FlightUtilities” — apparently software that allows apps to track flights, but which isn’t actually available in any publicly existing version of Mac OS.

The new name would bring it online with the rest of Apple’s operating systems: watchOS, tvOS and iOS. watchOS and tvOS are both relatively new, having been launched in the last year or so, and iOS was launched as iPhone OS in 2001 and got its current name with iOS 4.

If the new name is arriving this year, it's likely that it will be announced along with the new versions of Mac OS and iOS at the June Worldwide Developers Conference.

The move could come with a more major redesign of the operating system. The company has concentrated in recent years on tweaking and refining parts of its Mac experience, rather than launching major overhauls — but it could choose to do that alongside the new name.

Such a move would be far from unprecedented. Apple used to call its Mac operating system Mac OS until it got to Mac OS 10, which represented a major break from what had come before and was the time that Apple moved to calling the software OS X.

The company appeared to confirm during a discussion with marketing head Phil Schiller last year that it was looking at new naming conventions for some of its software.

After journalist John Gruber mocked the company for calling its Apple Watch operating system watchOS — with a lower caps w — the company appeared to confirm that similar changes might be coming.

“I think, you’ll see,” Mr Schiller said. “Give us time, we’ve been through many fun naming things. This is an easy one. There have been many fun naming things through the years — some very emotional, some very easy — and most of the time, when all’s said and done, you look back years later, people say ‘Yeah, you guys were right, it all made sense together’.”