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iOS 26 Speculation Thread
- Thread starter Kylo83
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I don’t know, back in the early days of Mac OS X, it got a “Big Sur” style redesign every couple years. Panther, leopard, lion, Yosemite.
They could have jumped to version 11 whenever they wanted.
The only redesign they had since leopard was Yosemite which, if I recall correctly, it was OSX 10.10? So, yeah, they could have renamed it macOS 11 back then, because of the UI redesign, but iOS was… iOS 8.
Nah, the only seamless transition I can think of, was when iOS 11 was announced, in 2017, with… High Sierra, which was just a minor refinement over Sierra, with the only new (although significant) feature being the new file system APFS.
Lion was absolutely a redesign.
Sure, not every single icon changed, but scroll bars, buttons, and the user interface of the majority of built-in applications all changed to match with their iOS counterpart at the time.
It was a *big* deal.
Of course it didn’t last long.
I’m sharing here a thought about iPadOS 19. Should we talk about it here or should I go to the iPadOS sub forum?
I say, for those hoping for a more complete, feature rich, and versatile iPadOS, let’s hold our hopes, one last time, until WWDC ‘25.
I know, I know, it’s been said so many times already… but I really think this is the last chance for the people hoping a more complex, versatile iPadOS.
Why? Because rumors say this new redesign is coming across the board for all three major operating systems, iOS, iPadOS and macOS, and it is also said that it will bring consistency across all three of them. Let’s hope this comes with feature parity, especially now that macOS will likely be exclusive to Apple Silicon machines, and at least the M series iPads will adopt a similar interface and gain the same features and complexity.
This idea is also reinforced if we think foldable iPhones will have a similar size of an iPad, and foldable iPads are said to run macOS. And those foldable devices are expected to be released in 2026 so… yeah, this is the time. This is the year iPadOS will likely adopt its final form.
If iPadOS 19 turns out to be more of the same iPadOS but with glassy panels and buttons with depth (yeah, we’re definitely moving away from the flat interface introduced with iOS 7), then I’ll have lost all my hopes. Although I’m fine with iPadOS 18.3 for the way I use it, not gonna lie. But having a more complex, versatile, complete OS would be nice, yeah. It’s now or never.
I say, for those hoping for a more complete, feature rich, and versatile iPadOS, let’s hold our hopes, one last time, until WWDC ‘25.
I know, I know, it’s been said so many times already… but I really think this is the last chance for the people hoping a more complex, versatile iPadOS.
Why? Because rumors say this new redesign is coming across the board for all three major operating systems, iOS, iPadOS and macOS, and it is also said that it will bring consistency across all three of them. Let’s hope this comes with feature parity, especially now that macOS will likely be exclusive to Apple Silicon machines, and at least the M series iPads will adopt a similar interface and gain the same features and complexity.
This idea is also reinforced if we think foldable iPhones will have a similar size of an iPad, and foldable iPads are said to run macOS. And those foldable devices are expected to be released in 2026 so… yeah, this is the time. This is the year iPadOS will likely adopt its final form.
If iPadOS 19 turns out to be more of the same iPadOS but with glassy panels and buttons with depth (yeah, we’re definitely moving away from the flat interface introduced with iOS 7), then I’ll have lost all my hopes. Although I’m fine with iPadOS 18.3 for the way I use it, not gonna lie. But having a more complex, versatile, complete OS would be nice, yeah. It’s now or never.
Oh! You’re right! I didn’t remember that before Lion, scrolling bars were Aqua style, like big blue crystal drops, with double the width. And I’m sure there were other elements that got refined. I thought it was just the new Mission Control (replacing Exposé) which, yes, was quite a big deal.
According to Mark Gurman, apple hopes to have Mac apps running on the iPad by 2027.
So personally, I think, much like the introduction of catalyst applications, it’s going to be a slow process over a couple years.
Think of how the process of catalyst worked…
High Sierra: switched the file system to APFS, alongside iOS 11. Also discontinued 32 bit support on iOS.
Mojave: discontinued 32 bit support on the Mac, introduced Apple‘s very own super basic catalyst applications, along with the framework for developers.
Catalina: brought more built-in catalyst applications, along with allowing developers to build their own.
Big Sur: Apple silicon transition, allowing iOS apps to run native on macOS.
So, I don’t expect iPadOS 19 to immediately just let you start running McIntosh applications on day one, but I do think it will be the *beginning* of that transition.
I also highly doubt that Apple will ever open up the iPad the way the Mac is. I think they will eventually let you run Mac apps that are available in the Mac App Store on the iPad, but the idea that you’re just going to be able to download DMGs and there will be a terminal and such doesn’t seem the direction that Apple is headed.
Edit: 32 bit support on Mac was actually dropped with Catalina, my mistake. Was a tad early on that one.
Yeah, I agree it will be a process, and I don’t think we’ll have an open system where you will be able to install DMGs and such (I wish tho…), but this is the year Apple will redesign the three operating systems. At least from a design standpoint, I really think this is a crucial year. We’ll see in a couple of months.
What if the biggest change is now iPhones can dual boot Android? Does that get them out of doing anything further to appease the EU?
Completely agree. Maybe this year they unify the designs, and next year as a demo they start bringing over some Mac exclusive applications to the iPad, just like how catalyst started.
I can already think of the ones I want, dictionary, preview, textedit, maybe even *gasp* Chess.
I do wonder how they will handle their pro apps, though, seeing as FinalCut Pro for iPad and FinalCutPro for Mac along with logic Pro are pretty different for the two operating systems already and those iPad apps are pretty much brand new still.
I don’t think every app will be identical ever.
New iOS 19 design tidbits revealed by Gurman, here’s what’s coming - 9to5Mac
Mark Gurman recently held a Q&A all about Apple, here’s what he had to share about iOS 19’s brand new design.
9to5mac.com
Still so vague. Unified, but how? He mentions the way the dock looks and acts. Is the iOS dock getting magnification and therefore more icons (like iPadOS)? Auto hide/show? Position elsewhere on screen? Do these ideas work on smaller phone screens? That could be cool.
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I also notice he mentions the Menu Bar. Perhaps my speculation about a Menu Bar/Dynamic Island hybrid isn’t so far off? I’m both excited and a bit nervous about these updates!New iOS 19 design tidbits revealed by Gurman, here’s what’s coming - 9to5Mac
Mark Gurman recently held a Q&A all about Apple, here’s what he had to share about iOS 19’s brand new design.
Still so vague. Unified, but how? He mentions the way the dock looks and acts. Is the iOS dock getting magnification and therefore more icons (like iPadOS)? Auto hide/show? Position elsewhere on screen? Do these ideas work on smaller phone screens? That could be cool.
One thing that would be great on iOS would be if swiping up were to reveal the App Dock like it does on iPadOS. That could make switching apps faster, especially if App Library could be added to the App Dock like on iPadOS. And I’d love to see the App Library come to macOS, and just make the Desktop more like the Home Screen, with several scrollable pages for different widget layouts or app collections. I think the multiple pages of the Home Screen actually gives it an advantage over the Desktop paradigm on macOS. 👍🏻
I’m interested to see how Apple will unify things.
Talking about smaller screen iPhones, I really hope they don’t leave the iPhone SE 2020 and iPhone 2022 forgotten, because they are the only two iPhones with a home button and a 4.7” screen.New iOS 19 design tidbits revealed by Gurman, here’s what’s coming - 9to5Mac
Mark Gurman recently held a Q&A all about Apple, here’s what he had to share about iOS 19’s brand new design.
Still so vague. Unified, but how? He mentions the way the dock looks and acts. Is the iOS dock getting magnification and therefore more icons (like iPadOS)? Auto hide/show? Position elsewhere on screen? Do these ideas work on smaller phone screens? That could be cool.
Yeah, swiping up from the bottom edge to bring up the dock on the iPhone would be great. Some might say “but that gesture is to go back to the Home Screen”, and those people probably haven’t used iPadOS in a long time. Just swiping slowly can reveal the dock, and the same could be applied to iOS.
Hmmm I don’t get this. I mean yeah, having App Library on the iPhone’s dock would be great, but what do you want App Library for in the Mac? You already have Launchpad on macOS, with a dedicated trackpad gesture.
I prefer the App Library over Launchpad because of the better organization. But I’d like to see App Library get more customizable organization options in addition to the automatic organization. Launchpad is basically a Home Screen with no widgets and limited organization. So I think it would make sense to replace Launchpad with App Library, which would unify the systems more. And then give the desktop a multi page scrollable setup like the Home Screen, so you can switch between Desktop pages for different tasks, widgets, app collections, file collections, etc. I think this would go a long way. 👍🏻
More of a macOS thing, but I wonder if him specifically mentioning the way apps close means that the traffic lights could end up going away?
“Things like hamburger menus and menu buttons, and the menu bar, and buttons for closing applications, the way the dock looks and acts. There are a lot of differences across the operating systems. So it’s about adding consistency there. It’s about adding glassy effects across the user interface. It’s about rejiggering some applications for a new generation of users to better understand, to make it seem more unified between the individual and the devices. So it’s gonna be a pretty dramatic set of changes. It could take a little bit of getting used to, but I think in the end people are going to like it.”
“Things like hamburger menus and menu buttons, and the menu bar, and buttons for closing applications, the way the dock looks and acts. There are a lot of differences across the operating systems. So it’s about adding consistency there. It’s about adding glassy effects across the user interface. It’s about rejiggering some applications for a new generation of users to better understand, to make it seem more unified between the individual and the devices. So it’s gonna be a pretty dramatic set of changes. It could take a little bit of getting used to, but I think in the end people are going to like it.”
That would be interesting. I personally prefer the way iPadOS handles that over the macOS traffic lights, so it would be interesting to see if Apple goes with something more like that. Or maybe some in-between or completely new option for that.
Makes more sense than the opposite: bringing those buttons to iOS.
Yeah, I know some people would probably be upset to see the traffic lights go, but I think it makes sense to bring something new for window controls. I could see them bringing something similar to the Multitasking Menu on iPadOS to macOS. It’s a small button with 3 dots on it when not in use, but when you hover the cursor over it, it expands into a menu with different window options. And iPadOS would likely gain that same hover functionality.
Have been thinking, we have heard a lot about a total redesign which is cool, but there hasn't been any news or leaks about actual new features. Do we think iOS 19 will just be a re design for the UI and thats it? or do we think they will be new features?
Both, if we’re to believe Gurman. The problem is that Gurman says there will be new UI paradigms/features, but is very vague. Though his latest description does give us a bit more to go off of, mentioning the Menu Bar, window buttons, App Dock and several other things specifically, indicating these will see changes.
yeah a lot of what has been said is more the look and style and ui, not actual new features, I would like split screen apps or something like that
Split screen apps? We already have split screen apps. I don’t understand what you’re meaning. 👍🏻