(Bloomberg) – 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 make Apple’s various software platforms more consistent, according to people familiar with the effort. That includes updating the style of icons, menus, apps, windows and system buttons.
As part of the push, the company is working to simplify the way users navigate and control their devices, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the project hasn’t been announced. The design is loosely based on the Vision Pro’s software, they said.
Last year was the first time I didn’t run betas on any of my equipment, whether it was production or personal. I even waited a whole month before upgrading to Sequioa.
I use a variety of AI tools for different work projects, and I’m absolutely convinced that Apple is lagging behind the rest of the industry. And now, with their pseudo-announcement that it will take until the next fiscal year for them to implement app intents as advertised, it feels like the only thing they’re ahead is in hardware design.
A unified, but app centric approach would be most welcome, have a calendar team, a mail team, a notes team, work on the apps for ALL the platforms. Recent pushes on the productivity apps has been most welcome but its incomplete. (Like the Journal app is not on the iPad? Come on Apple.)
Sounds like it could be an extreme makeover: “A key goal of the overhaul is to make Apple’s different operating systems look similar and more consistent. Right now, the applications, icons and window styles vary across macOS, iOS and visionOS.”
Apparently this new design language was hinted at weeks ago:
I’m not as optimistic as Gruber. Although I’d like to see more consistency across iOS and macOS, I don’t want this to come with the cost of ‘dumbing’ down the Mac, or removing features, or a repeat of the excessive permissions prompts. The mention of “loosely based” on Vision Pro concerns me, not because I don’t like the design language, but because I feel like it will move beyond just the design language and simplify things too much.
