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Apple Set To Unveil Boldest Software Redesign In Years Across Entire Ecosystem 138

Posted by BeauHD from the what-to-expect dept.
New submitter CInder123 shares a report from TechSpot: Apple is undertaking one of the most significant software overhauls in its history, aiming to revamp the user interface across iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices. This ambitious update, set for release later this year, will fundamentally transform the look and feel of Apple's operating systems, enhancing consistency and the user experience.

The updates are part of iOS 19 and iPadOS 19, codenamed "Luck," and macOS 16, dubbed "Cheer," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He cited sources who requested anonymity since the project has yet to be officially announced. These major upgrades will introduce a new design language while simplifying navigation and controls. Apple's push for consistency across platforms aims to create a seamless user experience when switching between devices. Currently, applications, icons, and window styles vary significantly across macOS, iOS, and visionOS, leading to a disjointed experience.
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Apple Set To Unveil Boldest Software Redesign In Years Across Entire Ecosystem More

Apple Set To Unveil Boldest Software Redesign In Years Across Entire Ecosystem

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  • So instead of fixing existing bugs, (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Sebby ( 238625 ) on Wednesday March 12, 2025 @06:22PM (#65229035) Journal

    Instead of fixing existing bugs, they'll add a slew of new ones, while adding confusion for existing users. Yup, total winning strategy.

    And since they're already behind with their new AI Siri, this'll just add to the mess and delay.

    • > they're already behind with their new AI Siri, this'll just add to the mess and delay

      I think they have like 14,000 developers.

      Probably different teams.

      • > they're already behind with their new AI Siri, this'll just add to the mess and delay

        I think they have like 14,000 developers.

        Probably different teams.

        Different Teams; Different Layers of the OSes.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dbialac ( 320955 )
      Maybe they'll be rolling back Jony Ive's project where he beat iOS with an ugly stick after Forester was canned. Wait, I have that one wrong. The ugly stick showed up, saw what Ive was designing, vomited at the sight of it and then asked Ive, "What do you need me here for?"

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by waspleg ( 316038 )

      Macrumor's article is calling this a distraction. I think it's an enormous misstep and I've already contacted our local Apple engineer to tell them so.

  • windows 8? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 12, 2025 @06:28PM (#65229045)

    Touch devices and functional computers should not have the same UI. Normally Microsoft is the one whose "purpose of [its] life is only to serve as a warning to others."

    Apple does dumb shit but normally not by consciously disregarding the most hated version of Windows of all time.

    • If you haven't already noticed apple's direction, the mac book will eventually just be a "tablet" with a fold out keyboard. Hell soon they'll probably just drop the mac book line tell you to buy an ipad with a magnetic attaching keyboard sold separately for $500.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        This is true from a development perspective, too. Each revision of macOS makes it increasingly difficult to provide device drivers for interesting hardware. It's getting to the point that if your device doesn't work with the generic USB Class drivers then you're shit out of luck. macOS is already at the point of becoming a content consumption-only platform, with all the interesting production work heading over to Linux and, erk, Windows platforms.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dfghjk ( 711126 )

          When hasn't that been the Apple approach? But locking out innovative hardware doesn't make a computer "content consumption-only", and what do you mean by "interesting production work"?

          It sounds like you have more of an axe to grind that a valid perspective. Apple has mostly always been a closed ecosystem, yet one for "context creators", see the problem?

          • I don't have an axe to grind (I like macOS and use it daily) but he's not wrong. Each successive macOS release makes it more difficult to access the hardware, in the name of better security. In Sequoia your app needs to get the user's permission just to send or receive packets on the LAN, which would be annoying enough if it worked reliably, but the permission state seems to be revoked at random times, with no way for your app to even know what has happened. The result is that to the user it looos like y

        • This is true from a development perspective, too. Each revision of macOS makes it increasingly difficult to provide device drivers for interesting hardware. It's getting to the point that if your device doesn't work with the generic USB Class drivers then you're shit out of luck. macOS is already at the point of becoming a content consumption-only platform, with all the interesting production work heading over to Linux and, erk, Windows platforms.

          Yeah; nothin' but watchin' TickTock Here...

          A couple of Mac Pro I/O Cards I was recently looking-up:

          https://archiv.rme-audio.de/en... [rme-audio.de]

          https://www.blackmagicdesign.c... [blackmagicdesign.com]

          Just one little niche out of many...

      • If you haven't already noticed apple's direction, the mac book will eventually just be a "tablet" with a fold out keyboard. Hell soon they'll probably just drop the mac book line tell you to buy an ipad with a magnetic attaching keyboard sold separately for $500.

        A lot of people would give a nonessential Body-Part for an M4 iPad Pro running macOS.

  • Well, maybe it's about time (Score:3, Interesting)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Wednesday March 12, 2025 @06:33PM (#65229063)

    I understand that Linux works reasonably well on Apple Silicon Macs now - might be worth giving that a try.

    • if Apple built their own Linux distros for iPhone, iPad & Mac that would surely boost Linux's appeal and some shared code base wouls be a big plus too, that would be a thorn in Microsoft's side too

      • Why would they? Despite the moaning on here, a lot of people like both IOS and MacOS - and for a lot of people it is a differentiator for them from Linux/Android and Windows.

        • MacOS isn't BAD, there are at least a few features baked in that are arguably better than Windows / Linux alternatives. Quicklook is one that jumps out. Bash / ZSH, and the availability for pure BASH scripting being natively available is also a really nice feature.

          That being said, there are tons of really annoying issues that Apple refuses to fix at any cost. The primary one being Finder is a steaming turd that makes the Windows Explorer file manager look like the pinnacle of file management in comparison.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            To be fair there is a paid replacement for Windows Explorer too, called Directory Opus. Started out on AmigaOS. I wouldn't be without it these days, and even though they just moved to a subscription model for updates I'll probably stick with it.

          • I have my complaints about Finder, but none of them are the same as your complaints. Mine are:

            1) Samba is old and broken on Finder. Try searching a remote filesystem via Samba. If it's a decent size you might be waiting up to 15 minutes. Just displaying the folders/files on a remote system takes about 30 seconds, whereas on Linux and Windows the same NAS will literally list all of the folders/files in a second or two. I've pointed this out to Apple. Many other people have pointed this out to Apple. Fixing i

          • "the availability for pure BASH scripting being natively available is also a really nice feature"

            Are they still using some ancient outdated version of bash? Cause bash on OSX sucks.

      • Apple would never do that. They don't want to make it that easy for you to escape their walled in garden.

      • Why would they encourage people to use their App Store clients for another purpose?

      • As long as it can connect to Azure, Microsoft won't object.

    • If I wanted to run Linux, I would have bought a cheap $300 computer, not an expensive Mac.

    • Why would you waste that much money on apple hardware just to run linux on it? You'd get better bang for your buck buying something like a thinkpad to run linux on.

      • Re:Well, maybe it's about time (Score:4, Insightful)

        by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Wednesday March 12, 2025 @09:12PM (#65229265)

        If you already own a Mac, the cost of trying out Linux on it is $0.

        I actually have been reasonably happy with macOS... but one has to wonder whether "fundamentally transform[ing] the look and feel of Apple's operating systems" will mean the neutering of macOS to more closely align with Apple's device OSes.

        For example: Will they remove people's ability to install apps from outside Apple's walled garden? Will they kill the terminal?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          Every time a story about an Apple UI resign comes along (every two or three years) Slashdot loses its collective mind about "neutering" MacOS.

          Relax. They're going to tweak the colours of some icons. Maybe, if they're feeling particularly spicy, they'll change the name of "System Preferences" to "Settings."

        • The best thing they could do is bring back the NeXT interface. In particular, wide screen monitors ought to have the dock at the left or right. It's bananas to have it at the bottom center, and when you have it there both autohide and not having autohide are just irritating in different ways. I use XFCE with a toolbar set up like NeXT on a 4k TV, it's basically the same thing and there's plenty of real estate for lots of icons.

          The thin strip across the top of the classic Mac OS was pretty slick as it did ev

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by stripes ( 3681 )

            The best thing they could do is bring back the NeXT interface. In particular, wide screen monitors ought to have the dock at the left or right.

            Eh? Apple has supported moving the dock to the left or right sides for well over a decade (bottom/left/right are all supported, not top though). You can’t move the menu bar off of the top with Apple’s standard software thoguh.

            Apple's designs have been going in the wrong direction for years — they reduced contrast

            Agreed, the translucent menu bar with the blur effect carefully chosen by Apple to minimize the damage of the translucency is nuts. Like they spend so much effort to make the translucence less damaging when they could just...make a black background on the bar, or anythin

            • You can move the Dock to any side but that's still only half the battle. You really want to move it so that it's in a corner on a side, where it was on NeXTStep, because then the menu is always in the same place. Having it move around when you open things is stupid and irritating. Last I checked you could not get proper behavior without plist editing, which is also stupid and irritating.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by dfghjk ( 711126 )

                Perhaps you should get a monitor that is less than 40 years old. The claim that the corners are faster to use, if it ever had merit at all, died when Macs got screens bigger than 9". This is more a fanboy talking point than it is reality, and my personal experience was that using a NeXT machine sucked. MacOS has plenty of issues, where the dock is is NOT one of them. Also, the "menu" IS always in the same place on the Mac, it is not a function of the dock location.

                • Perhaps you should get a monitor that is less than 40 years old.

                  I have a 42.5" 4k display, and I got an OS which doesn't treat me like an idiot.

                  This is more a fanboy talking point than it is reality

                  I've had a lot of Macs, including some which ran OS X. What do you think I'm fanboying by criticizing OS X? Everything else, all of which has a better UI? Even Windows' makes more sense, although the implementation is fragile garbage.

                  Also, the "menu" IS always in the same place on the Mac, it is not a function of the dock location.

                  Right, Apple made the Dock shittier when they made NeXTStep into OSX. The first icon on the Dock used to do stuff that Apple moved to another location, so you need a menu bar AND a dock. 40 years ag

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dfghjk ( 711126 )

          No and no. They're changing the curtains, not the terms of your incarceration

  • This poorly implemented idea was already done by M$ as Windows 8 and the Windows Phone. I hear the phone was okay, but W8 was a confusing mess. It doesn't really matter to me. Apple's "intuitive" interfaces are not so intuitive unless you grew up on them and I won't be buying any of their stuff. I admired Apple's interfaces until I had to use them.

    • W10 and W11 are just refinements of W8, a step back towards Windows 7 in some ways but also steps forward in many others. W10 and W11 are, except for the spyware and cloud stuff (the latter of which can be easily turned off), pretty decent OSs.

  • Code named luck.

    The street name will be "you're fucked".

    It doesn't matter if it's objectively good or bad. People equate easy with familiar. Any change is going to get screamed about on Reddit and the apple tech sites.

    It also doesn't matter because people who buy apple products don't look to buy anywhere else. It's not like what Microsoft has been doing with the Windows store and Live365 accounts to login to your computer will attract anyone new to the platform.

    • Bingo.
      People loathe and fear change. Big Tech has be shoving unnecessary forced upgrades at us for many years now. I don't know anyone who wants a reorganization of software they already know. While the Apple faithful will defend all manner of getting fucked as somehow innovative and quite desirable, unfamiliarity will cause customer attrition. Apple can join Microsoft, Amazon, Goo, etc as experiences to just get thru not enjoyed.

    • I just want to get my work done, I don't want to spend time every year chasing a moving target motivated solely by Apple's business need to have something different to show at their convention.

    • Code named luck.

      The street name will be "you're fucked".

      It doesn't matter if it's objectively good or bad. People equate easy with familiar.

      As a long time Apple user, I’ve survived various changes from Apple’s incessant desire to create a cool new interface. I can live with cosmetic changes but if they start changing how things work to create some grand unified field interface we are fucked. Apple fans will rave about how much better it is or rant about how Steve would never let this happen and Cook is an idiot, while the rest of us will just try to adapt.

  • Is that a prayer or an incantation?

  • They will introduce a bunch of changes that nobody needs, nobody asked for, and nobody wants. They will modify things that everyone has gotten used to, irritating users as they have to adjust and get used to all the changes that nobody needs, nobody asked for, and nobody wants. They will completely ignore fixing broken shit and fixing stupid shit. They will stir the pot, piss people off, and manage to add no value whatsoever. It will be hailed as revolutionary. Same as it ever was. Good "luck" with all th

  • Jobs had the goal way back in '06 of a KVM mode for a phone that would be your desktop computer.

    This seems like the penultimate step.

    I beta tested a MacNC back in the 90's with netboot via tftp and AFP instead of a hard drive. He and Larry realized not everybody had a T-1 to their house so they pivoted that hardware to iMac instead.

    Sometimes these ideas take a while to come to fruition.

    FWIW I got the docking station for a Pine64 many years back and it worked fine. Not fast but OK for light office work.

    Mos

  • iOS 18 hid almost all application preferences behind a secondary menu. macOS hid AirDrop. Both are now trying to predict my writing incorrectly. Notes is turning into bloated trash and hashtags. TextEdit was ruined long ago. Passwords is this new incantation that might work in the future but currently gets in the way asking stupid questions. I am going to be cussing at equipment for weeks after this comes outâ¦at least I can locate and override some of the nonsenseâ¦but my poor customers

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      iOS 18 hid almost all application preferences behind a secondary menu. macOS hid AirDrop. Both are now trying to predict my writing incorrectly. Notes is turning into bloated trash and hashtags. TextEdit was ruined long ago. Passwords is this new incantation that might work in the future but currently gets in the way asking stupid questions. I am going to be cussing at equipment for weeks after this comes outâ¦at least I can locate and override some of the nonsenseâ¦but my poor customers will be cussing for years.

      No matter how often they ask, no, I really do want to use Keychain Access. It does what I need, and doesn't get in my way.

  • This seems more like Apple management has no direction of where to go, and is just trying something to see what sticks.

    Since iPhone 3G, the basic interface of the iPhone had been basically consistent, and that means grandma can do FaceTime with her grandkids without much trouble. Nearly zero support effort is a great incentive for the breadwinner of the family to choose iPhones for family members over other options.

    Ok, and now Apple is going to drastically change the iPhone interface? Maybe it is time to

  • " Currently, applications, icons, and window styles vary significantly across macOS, iOS, and visionOS, leading to a disjointed experience."

    They just spent the last decade throwing out all the skeuomorphic UI elements and making all these devices have the same look and feel. The got rid of the old macOS System Settings for one that looks like iOS. What in the world do they mean disjointed? Maybe they mean macOS users don't want their laptop to look like an iPhone screen? How old are these developer tea

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by edis ( 266347 )

      MS Windows already destroyed graphical structures for the sake of Android-like lists of text. This was/is departure from the core interface ideas. Not to mention disastrous Win8 monster. Please, experiment without rushing it to the user base.

  • It was simple. My guess is that Apple will use AI to write subroutines. I was thinking about that today, writing a modern OS. Something safe and secure, with no "hacking vectors". It seems within reach to use English phrases to get a machine to write source code and subroutines. Things that are safe and secure.

  • Unfuck your current system first (Score:3)

    by gullevek ( 174152 ) on Thursday March 13, 2025 @01:11AM (#65229535) Homepage Journal

    I mean, look at Photos. Worked fine. Now it is a mess. Can't do proper slide shows anymore (something that worked perfectly since I used it first on the first ipad), can't connect to a remote display: it just mirrors ... And lets think about all these small issues on macOS eg when you have multiple desktops and pin an app to all, after a reboot it is stuck on desktop 1 ... at the bottom of all other windows and it can't be brought to top. Or that macOS will never remember what app windows where on which monitor if you unplug one and plug it back in ... absolute top after your macbook goes to sleep and you can remove all the windows again.

    But lets add an even wore UI on top

  • UX consistency at Microsoft gave us the evergreen gem that is Windows 8.

    • I got pissed at software engineers for hating on Vista. It was an effort at making OS's secure, and they found in inconvenient. Piss on them. Do your jobs. If some software tries to access somewhere it is not supposed to be, say no.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dfghjk ( 711126 )

      And before that, when IBM did it we got Presentation Manager. It's a lofty goal that really means disappointment is headed our way.

  • If they don't implement the universal back button/gesture iOS will continue to be the absolute crap that it is now.

    I see iOS users struggling with going back daily.

  • Longtime Mac user since 1995, never had issues like the trolls in the comments. No problem with the Finder, can sort files/folders like I want. I can figure out how to use the current Mac OS and iOS with current icons. Now, would you like some cheese with your whining..... lololol Now, Windows updates truly broke stuff.......

  • This ambitious update, set for release later this year, will fundamentally transform the look and feel of Apple's operating systems, enhancing consistency and the user experience.

    How the fuck can you, in ONE sentence, contradict yourself so bluntly?

    • The new system will display an apple logo upon boot accompanied by a single button labeled with a dollar sign which upon clicking gives apple one of your dollars. That's it, simple and easy to use on every device. Nothing to get in the way of their business model.
  • They can't invent anything new so they are milking their existing customers by forcing them to upgrade to stay current, in my opinion.

    "will fundamentally transform the look and feel of Apple's operating systems, enhancing consistency and the user experience." This is an outright contradiction, you do not "enhance consistency and the user experience" by changing everything. This is just plain stupid in my opinion.

  • Or did you mean they're going to phone'ify the Mac?

  • This is exactly what Microsoft tried to do with Windows 8: create a consistent environment across desktop and mobile devices. We all know how well that worked. Microsoft eventually got the hint too and stopped that nonsense (mostly).

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