Malcolm Owen
Apple's expected upgrades to iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 will be a major overhaul, with executives apparently confident consumers will like the faster and easier to use interfaces.
Every year, Apple reveals its inbound changes to its operating systems at WWDC. So far, rumors have claimed that there will be some major interface alterations on the way, and executives are apparently confident they will keep consumers happy.
According to Mark Gurman in Bloomberg's Sunday newsletter, top executives in Apple are confident that users will love the new look and feel of the updated operating systems. The key point of the move is to appeal to existing users, while still attracting new users down the road.
The executives also say that the design change is intended to make the operating systems faster to navigate, easier to learn, and simpler overall to use. The overhaul will also set the operating systems up to handle future hardware designs, such as the rumored iPhone Fold, as well as adapting to an AI-dominated future.
visionOS influenced
Gurman's latest report echoes the claim that elements of visionOS will be included as part of the new versions. This would include a greater use of transparency and a change how windows and buttons are handled.
The change, which is reasoned will make all Apple hardware feel more consistent in their appearance, and functionality, is somewhat questionable. In part because of what Gurman previously wrote on the subject.
Back in February 2024, Gurman said that an update to the operating system interfaces was on the way in 2025 or 2026. However, at the time, he doubted that it would use any UI elements incorporated into visionOS.
The use of glass textures and 3D buttons was viewed to be an aesthetic intended for visionOS alone, due to being used with passthrough video. As users needed to "see" real-world elements through glass panes while hearing the Apple Vision Pro, this is something that would only be an issue for the headset, not for someone using an iPhone.
Apple changing its tone and believing the UI elements of visionOS could work in other operating systems is entirely plausible, especially over the course of a year. Ultimately, it will only be a few months until the world discovers Apple's ultimate design decision at WWDC in June.
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Charles Martin
William Gallagher
6 Comments
Why is it when Apple says this it freaks me out.
Ease of use!? That was the old Apple.
Tim Cook's over-promising under-delivering Apple will probably add advertisements in the Dock and probably the local search will present sponsored links first as in all the other search boxes. That CEO is so desperate to generate mo' money now that his 'new products' turn out to be failures (like the Car, AI, Vision), but 'service revenue' needs to be pumped up (so far without any tariffs).
As long as it’s not Windows 8, we’re fine.
Oh no, not iteration and refinement, quelle horreur!