Relatively unchanged for more than 10 years, the look of the iPhone could well change next November. Finally, the look of the operating system especially.
iOS 18 is already announced as “the biggest” update in the history of the iPhone with the arrival of generative AI tools, but Apple should not stop there. To mark the occasion, it seems that the Apple firm has also planned to give its mobile operating system a good lick of paint, changing its look for the first time in (a very) long time.
No big changes in 10 years
In his weekly newsletter, the always very well informed journalist Mark Gurman explains that Apple “reportedly working on an iOS design update for this year», something to delight fans of the brand.
The look of the mobile OS hasn’t really changed in almost 10 years. In 2013, Apple said goodbye to skeuomorphism (an aesthetic trend that replicates the design codes of a physical object on a digital interface) for a sleeker and more modern look. But since then, if Apple has marginally evolved its interface to keep it up to date, the general aesthetic of the OS has remained the same for more than 10 years.
Apple having always been a prescriptive force when it comes to user interface design, seeing iOS evolve could well give us clues as to what the rest of the industry is also preparing in its corner. Moreover, Bloomberg affirms that after iOS, it will be the turn of macOS to go through the mill of aesthetic changes, but the desktop OS would not change its look before 2025 or 2026
iOs 18, a highly anticipated version
According to Gurman, iOS 18 could be partly inspired by what Apple offers on visionOS, the operating system for its augmented reality headset. Contrary to what some rumors claimed, however, it will not be “a total overhaul that replicates visionOS”, just a sharing of certain aesthetic ideas.
To say that the next version of iOS is highly anticipated is an understatement. After falling behind Google and Microsoft, the company is finally seizing the possibilities offered by generative AI, which should profoundly change the way the system works. Add to that a lick of fresh paint and you have a major evolution of the operating system of one of the most popular electronic devices in the world. Let’s hope that by then Apple has taken the time to correct the many bugs present on its current OS.
Source : Bloomberg
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