Prosser versus Gurman battle shows how little is known about iOS 19

Yesterday saw the latest episode in a Prosser versus Gurman battle over just how big a change we’ll see in the look and feel of the user interface in iOS 19.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says he’s seen evidence of a change almost as notable as that of iOS 7 back in 2013. Jon Prosser, on the other hand, says we should expect something far less dramatic …

Prosser versus Gurman

Gurman reported earlier this month that this year will see a completely new look to each of Apple’s key operating systems, as well as significant new functionality.

Apple Inc. is preparing one of the most dramatic software overhauls in the company’s history, aiming to transform the interface of the iPhone, iPad and Mac for a new generation of users.

The revamp — due later this year — will fundamentally change the look of the operating systems [and] is loosely based on the Vision Pro’s software […]

The changes […] go well beyond a new design language and aesthetic tweaks. The software will mark the most significant upgrade to the Mac since the Big Sur operating system in 2020. For the iPhone, it will be the biggest revamp since iOS 7 in 2013.

Jon Prosser, in contrast, is playing down expectations. While he did show a mockup of a significantly new-looking Camera app back in January, he yesterday shared that he says is a screenshot of the new Messages app – which doesn’t at all appear to indicate a radically new look. The changes shown are relatively minor tweaks.

While most of the interface looks the same, we can see slightly redesigned buttons at the top. The buttons are now covered by a circle with a reflective glass effect, similar to visionOS. The iPhone’s virtual keyboard also seems to have been slightly redesigned, now with more rounded edges.

He went further in a podcast episode with Sam Kohl,

A lot of people have very high expectations for what this redesign is and as far as I’m aware right now it doesn’t meet those very high expectations […] so I hope people are just not you know super disappointed.

He specifically addressed Gurman’s reporting.

I’m not going to say that Mark Gurman is wrong [but] from what we’re seeing it’s not as substantial as it’s being made out to be. It is a redesign, some things do work slightly differently, but it’s not like iOS 7.

Gurman hit back, not directly naming Prosser but clearly referencing him.

iOS 19 images floating around aren’t representative of what we’ll see at WWDC. They look to be based on either very old builds or vague descriptions

iOS 19 clues from Apple

Yesterday also brought us some clues direct from Apple. The company yesterday announced the dates for WWDC 2025, and the frosted glass graphic certainly appears to back the idea of a visionOS-inspired look.

Parker Ortolani also suggested that an animation for the event creates high hopes for “some super fun new motion design in the next releases.”

9to5Mac’s Take

While we know little at this stage, my money would be on iOS 19 being more toward the Gurman end of the scale than the Prosser one. Apple’s graphic absolutely backs the latter’s reports of a glassy, three-dimensional look.

It’s been a very long time since we’ve seen a fresh new UI look from Apple, so it’s certainly time – and as I said previously, a new look will probably have a bigger impact than the long-awaited Siri improvements.