Apple is prepping a major overhaul of its operating systems, due later this year, which will change the look of the OSes and the interface of the iPhone, Mac, and iPad, Bloomberg News reports Monday, citing people familiar with the effort.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
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.
Apple is betting that a breakthrough new interface can help spur demand after a sluggish stretch…
The changes are coming as part of iOS 19 and iPadOS 19 — code-named “Luck” — and macOS 16, which is dubbed “Cheer.” They 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.
The updates are poised to be a highlight at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June — and could help distract from the company’s tumultuous push into artificial intelligence. Last week, Apple indefinitely delayed its AI upgrades for the Siri digital assistant, confirming a Bloomberg News report that the enhancements were in jeopardy.
MacDailyNews Take: See that cool glow around the edge of the iPhone this article’s illustration? Yup, same old Siri, new “glow.” Extrapolate.
Don’t look at the sad, sorry state of Siri and Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2025, look at this instead: Mmm, shiny!
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Bold, innovative, and playful new emoji.
God forbid!
What? Did Scott Forstall get rehired?
Can’t wait for the return of the texture and smell of “real” leather in my Contacts App!
Actually, technology has advanced quite a bit since the original skeuomorphic MacOs.
So, this time around, perhaps “dramatic operating system overhaul” means we will get to experience in our Contacts App, the look, the feel, the smell, and the taste of genuine corinthian leather.*
(It will be just like riding in a ’78 New Yorker.)
*See, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinthian_leather
Oh Jeez, puleeeze! Great, let’s just move all of the knobs and levers to different places so our kids can sneer when we don’t know how to use our devices.
Apple needs another visionary. I’m starting to agree with MDN that Timo has probably taken Jobs’ legacy as far as he can.
So who is that person?
Craig Federici would be my pick as he is a techy person, and an ex-NeXT person. But he’s also responsible for the disaster that is system prefs and no real ‘vision’. I didn’t like Johnny Ive’s vision of flat everything, but at least it had a point of view, but in the end it was window dressing (and I liked jobs ‘lickable’ UI vision more).
But we need people with actual vision on the OS front. There has been no real new OS in a zillion years and no one seems interested. WHY!?
We had a time when macOS almost died with Taligent and windowsNT and BeOS and luckily apple chose next to jump and improve the core OS. But no one is bothering to truly think about a ground up new and better OS. It’s all built on this now ancient crap crusty unix stuff. It’s time for a new ground up new OS. And perhaps that means looking for new people and ideas.
It’s a tough recruitment, but something they should be working on with urgency.
I have said for years now; Tim Cook needs to go. Nothing personal, I like him. Just not as the CEO. Apple needs a better visionary person, who is more aggressive. AAPL has been under-performing its true potential for a long time now. It SHOULD be well over $300. Tim’s management style, with his lack of aggressive approach, has a lot to do with why AAPL is where it’s at.
So… fewer icons on my Home Screen?
Hope not.
You mean the glow that takes 5 seconds to activate? It’s like opening a webpage in 1998. Turned it off and haven’t looked back. iOS 19 better be great as I actually feel open to changing OS companies if an AI operating system proves better.
For those wishing for some new overhaul, I assume you’re talking about the MacOS UX because the Unix underpinnings is the most powerful and resilient operating system that supports a broad range of functions.
As far as an overhaul, yeah, we are probably due for a rethink on some things. I think we have taken the flat trend to an extreme and everyone is doing it but it’s making everything androgynous and homogenous. I’m dismayed even how many big brands have ditched rich, recognizable logos for basic, flat text.
I think we lost something and bringing new dimensions to the devices that we use every day would be a welcome change.
Fixing the interface, and how things work, ought to be the most important. The Finder is a neglected mess, and the iPhone is even worse for the lack of one.