Last week, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple was planning “one of the most dramatic software overhauls” in its history. The company is currently planning a redesign for iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 – all in the name of consistency. Gurman even said that this would be the “biggest revamp since iOS 7” for iPhone and iPad, and the “most significant upgrade to the Mac since macOS Big Sur.
Now, Bloomberg reports that Apple executives are “confident” that users will love this visionOS-inspired design.
According to Gurman, the overhauls for iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 go “well beyond a fresh coat of paint,” and will “alter the way people interact with their devices for many years to come.”
The redesigns, which will span across Apple’s biggest platforms, will take inspiration from Apple’s latest platform, visionOS:
The new interfaces will adopt the design principles introduced in visionOS, the software for Apple’s Vision Pro headset. That includes greater transparency and new types of windows and buttons — and that should make all Apple devices feel more consistent and familiar.
Despite being one of the biggest software overhauls in many years, Apple executives reportedly believe that users won’t take issue with it, per Gurman:
Despite the risks involved in major interface changes, top Apple executives say they are confident that users will love the new look and feel. The trick is creating something that appeals both to the hundreds of millions of current users and the new customers that Apple hopes to add in the coming years.
Executives believe these interfaces will be “simpler to user, faster to navigate, and easier to learn.” These new software designs will potentially set the stage for more radical hardware. That includes foldable devices and touchscreen Macs, according to Gurman.
Top comment by Blurft
Apple's two latest high-profile endeavors - Vision Pro and Apple Intelligence - have been met with consumer apathy. The Photos app redesign has been widely criticized and offers no real improvement in user experience. They've also announced several other features lately that only seem to apply to their own lifestyles, including second-gen CarPlay that's only been adopted by Porsche and Aston Martin, and "Home Energy Use" that only works with a single California utility. Convenient for them, useless for the rest of us.
At this point I'm not sure I trust the executives there to have a good understanding of what users want.
Executives believe these interfaces will be “simpler to user, faster to navigate, and easier to learn.”
As someone who has worked in UI and UX before, I worry that Apple may fall victim to the "Curse of Knowledge" - a problem wherein someone with a lot of knowledge about a system mistakenly assumes / believes that others share their knowledge, and thus fails to understand how it may not be intuitive.
That's not something exclusive to Apple, of course, but it is something that I worry Apple is particularly susceptible to given how secretive they are. Their desire to keep new projects secret means they don't get an outside perspective to point out when something isn't particularly intuitive to novice users.
Apple also aims to create consistency between all of its platforms with these new iOS, iPadOS, and macOS designs. It also aims to “adapt to an era adopted by artificial intelligence assistants, rather than people continually dipping in and out of applications.”
What do you think of Apple’s upcoming software updates receiving a full overhaul? Let us know in the comments.
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- Anker 25K Compact Power Bank with retractable cable
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- Anker MagSafe 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Stand with Qi2
- AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C)
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