Apple's VP of Human Interface Design is leaving Apple for Meta, but Liquid Glass is here to stay. Expect Stephen Lemay to perfect the controversial design choice.
Alan Dye was a controversial choice as VP of Human Interface Design when he was placed in that slot by Jony Ive. His background in fashion made everyone in the Apple space cringe with worry, and the time since 2015 has shown they had only a little to worry about.
Apple's design didn't stray far from the iOS 7 foundation that introduced flat minimalism all the way until Liquid Glass was introduced with iOS 26. That change was presented as the way forward for Apple's operating systems, and isn't something the company will easily back off from, regardless of who leaves.
If Dye had left Apple earlier in 2025, there could be some discussion around Apple taking a different track with Liquid Glass in 2026, but it's far too late. Apple tends to finalize the first internal alphas for the next operating systems in December, so iOS 27 and the rest are already well on their way.
Liquid Glass is here to stay.
Turning the ship
It's difficult to gauge the ripple effect Alan Dye's departure from Apple will have. There's no doubt that Jony Ive's exit was a bigger deal for the company, and we can't forget the teams of people below Dye that helped create the things we see in Apple software today.
Liquid Glass has seen many tweaks since its announcement
That said, The Verge reports that Billy Sorrentino is leaving with Dye, and it seems others of his inner circle will be going as well. Even if this is the core of Liquid Glass, it'll be tough to change the direction of such a big ship.
Apple has spent years developing Liquid Glass — a material UI that is only possible because of advancements in Apple Silicon. I personally like Liquid Glass, but also see its problems and challenges.
Dye was always a form over function kind of guy. We got multiple iPadOS user interfaces that contradict each other and only arrived at a good one once they tossed out the flashy top layers and gave us buttons.
iPadOS 16 was certainly something
It seems Stephen Lemay might actually be the exact opposite of Alan Dye in almost every way. He joined Apple in 1999 and is well respected within the company.
A report from Daring Fireball says some employees were shocked with relief at hearing of Dye's move to Meta and Lemay's takeover. Allegedly, no one had expected Dye to ever leave of his own free will, and one individual said they "don't think there was a better choice than Lemay."
There's a lot Apple could try to do in the seven months to WWDC 2026, but it seems unlikely that the Liquid Glass haters will get their most desired option — going back. Instead, expect a natural evolution of Liquid Glass provided by someone that understands interface design in a way more akin to Steve Jobs' "Design is how it works."
Improving Liquid Glass
Talk to your average Apple user, no not the nerds, but anyone else, and they might remark that Liquid Glass is neat. Some might even say they don't even notice the change from the previous design.
A stack of macOS windows with differing corner radii. Image source: Basic Apple Guy
Look to developers and designers and you'll get a much different refrain. It's not that Liquid Glass is bad, it's that it is missing the polish some Apple nerds came to expect from the company.
Edges of objects don't align, too much interface is hidden below a single hamburger menu, and some elements are just broken. Apple design has never been perfect or without its bugs, but there is a sentiment out there that it has gotten worse under Alan Dye.
At the least, we can expect that Lemay will tighten things up at the edges. Extra care given in places most people forget to look.
For example, if you ever look at the Voice Memos app icon, it is the waveform for someone saying the word "Apple." That kind of tiny detail and whimsey used to be much more prevalent across Apple's platforms.
And while iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS all do fine with Liquid Glass, many claim that macOS is downright broken in some instances. Under Dye, tvOS was ignored and watchOS never got the watch face collection it deserved.
Apple hasn't taken Apple Watch faces far enough
That isn't to say Apple's human interface design was totally bad under Alan Dye, but sentiment for him is a lot like Tim Cook at times. There are many that appreciate Cook's ability to crunch numbers and manage the supply chain, but they'd like to see someone with an engineering background at the helm.
The news of Alan Dye leaving appears to be sudden, so there was likely no plans internally for changing anything that was already in place. And we've heard rumblings from inside the walls that employees think that departure, how it happened, and where he's going, is about a best-case scenario for Apple.
If change is coming, and that's a big if, it should start showing up in small ways. Tweaks to some apps, APIs, and design elements could show as soon as the next OS beta.
Not that much is known about Lemay, though. He doesn't appear to be a Dye acolyte, but we'll see with time.
Whatever is next, don't expect anything significant anytime soon. Apple is no doubt committed to Liquid Glass for the next five years or so, but at least we know there's someone running the design team that might be able to perfect the controversial material.
