Apple is about to announce the release date for Mavericks, the latest version of the software that runs on all its desktop computers and laptops.
Since 2001, every edition of OS X has been named after big cats, starting with the code-names Cheetah and Puma, and followed by Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion and finally Mountain Lion in 2012. Eventually Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice-president of software engineering, joked about naming its next operating software release “Sea Lion”, and the era of the big cats was over.
Apple toyed with 10.9 Cabernet and 10.10 Syrah, but apparently couldn't stomach a wine-related meme and announced in June that the next releases will be named after Californian locations.
No doubt Apple's marketing department (and the California tourist board) are brewing Bay Bridge, Lake Taho, Sacramento, Humboldt, Yosemite and others. But where and what exactly is Mavericks?
It's easy to imagine what went through the mind of the marketing team; the endless summers of the California surf aesthetic, and those timeless, artful shots of breaking waves and barrels. But the romance stops there.
Mavericks is regarded as one of North America's most dangerous surf breaks. In 1994, it became one of the few locations to kill a professional surfer when Hawaiian big wave rider Mark Foo wiped out. In 2011, Mavericks claimed another life when Sion Milosky drowned.
Just the month before, Milosky had won the North Shore underground surfer of the year, leading Surfing Magazine to write “we’ll be watching Si to see where this momentum takes him”. He used some of his $25,000 prize money to pay for the trip to Mavericks.
Even among surfing's select group of big-wave riders – maybe 100 in the world – only a handful will take on the winter swells at Mavericks, where waves can reach 80 feet. Those that do need specialist equipment – helmets, sometimes lifejackets, jetski tow-ins and emergency backup. None of which makes for a comfortable marketing metaphor with a mainstream piece of computer software.
As for how the surf break got its name, it owes more to dogs than cats.
For years, most thought Mavericks too dangerous to be surfed and just one man, Jeff Clark, rode it alone, for 15 years. The name though, predates him.
In 1961, three surfers arrived in Half Moon Bay to try it out, accompanied by a German shepherd called Maverick. While the men had a mediocre day, steering clear of the big waves which would make the spot famous, Maverick had a great time, swimming out to join in until he had to be tied up on shore for his own safety. Since he was the only one of the four who seemed to have had fun, they decided to name the place after him, and so "Maverick’s" was born.
If the California thing doesn’t work for Apple, it can always switch tack and say that animals were the plan all along – the names have just switched from cats to dogs. Could Mac OS X Lassie be next?
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