A Bloomberg report yesterday suggested that iOS 19 could be getting a completely new look, in the biggest change since iOS 7 back in 2013. A similarly dramatic change is expected for macOS 16.
While the report is light on detail, the few clues it provide does make it sound like the upcoming software updates could almost a complete reversal of the flat look we’ve had for more than a decade …
With iOS 7, Apple ditched all the 3D and skeuomorphic elements in the UI in favor of very flat graphics which have remained in use ever since.
The report – which of course may or may not turn out to be accurate – says that the new look will be “loosely” based on visionOS.
The design is loosely based on the Vision Pro’s software […]
VisionOS differs from iOS and macOS in the use of circular app icons, a simplified approach to windows, translucent panels for navigation, and a more prominent use of 3D depth and shadows.
How much of that 3D look will translate to devices with 2D user interfaces isn’t clear, but it does sound like the look and feel of our devices later this year will be completely different from anything seen in more than a decade.
Our editor-in-chief Chance Miller wryly commented that a radical new look would serve as a great way to distract from the ever-slowing progress on the new Siri. But in truth, I think many more Apple users will be wowed by a new look than would ever care about Siri.
Don’t misunderstand me: I really want Siri to be good. I’m a big fan of voice interaction, and dictate a lot of what other people type. A Siri command to my nearest HomePod is my usual way of controlling my smart home, and if I could use the assistant for more sophisticated tasks, I absolutely would.
I’ve long been calling for turning Siri into a truly smart intelligent assistant. Way back in 2015, I called for Siri to be capable of interacting with our apps, so that we simply express an intent and let the device take care of the details. It was a full decade before Apple announced plans to do just that – and we just learned that it’s now going to take even longer than the company expected.
But there’s a Catch-22 here. Siri was launched way back in 2011, and while more capabilities have been added over the years, the harsh reality is that it hasn’t gotten dramatically smarter since then. People are used to being disappointed by it that many Apple device users have all but abandoned it. Since so few people use it for so few tasks, most scarcely care about it any more.
But a whole new look is a different matter entirely. Sure, the new look introduced with iOS 7 was a massively controversial one, and many thought that then Apple design chief Jony Ive should never have been allowed anywhere near the software side of the business. But love it or hate it, you certainly couldn’t ignore it.
The same will be true of a new 3D look, which might even include some (much more modern) skeuomorphic elements. Probably as many will hate it as love it when it’s first introduced, as that seems to be true of any significant change made by the company, but it will likely make more of a bang than any improvement to Siri the company may introduce, then or later.
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