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What do you think of the rumored switch to San Francisco for iOS 9 and OS X 10.11?


  • Total voters
    87

DHagan4755

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 18, 2002
2,266
6,150
Massachusetts
What do you guys think of the rumored switch from Helvetica Neue used in iOS 8 and Yosemite to Apple's new San Francisco font for the next major version of iOS and OS X?
 

Yakibomb

macrumors 6502
May 13, 2014
413
60
Cape Town
What do you guys think of the rumored switch from Helvetica Neue used in iOS 8 and Yosemite to Apple's new San Francisco font for the next major version of iOS and OS X?

I don't really mind, I mean the two fonts are actually pretty similar.
I found this cool little game to see if you can spot the differences between them: LINK
 

KALLT

macrumors 603
Sep 23, 2008
5,380
3,415
Not sure. I wouldn’t say that nothing can replace Lucida Grande, but I have some concerns about the legibility of SF on non-Retina displays or Retina displays without a scaled resolution since I read about it. However, I do think that SF would be a better option for Helvetica Neue.
 

jbarley

macrumors 601
Jul 1, 2006
4,023
1,895
Vancouver Island
What do you guys think of the rumored switch from Helvetica Neue used in iOS 8 and Yosemite to Apple's new San Francisco font for the next major version of iOS and OS X?
I don't much care, I've had my fonts switched back to "Lucida Grande" since the beginning of Yosemite, and it'll stay that way as forever I hope.
 

MisterMe

macrumors G4
Jul 17, 2002
10,709
69
USA
This is not the silliest poll ever on MacRumors.com, but it is certainly on the silly spectrum. When I began using Macs, the Mac System font was Chicago. Apple has changed the Mac System font before without dawning the Apocalypse. With the Grace of God, we will survive this change is the rumors are true.
 
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maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
If Apple does change the font, I just hope it improves the overall experience. I really don't care if they change it or not. I'm not married to the the font selection but I do care if it gets in the way of my work or not.
 

zxy

macrumors newbie
Oct 24, 2014
18
4
New Zealand
I think they should, even though San Francisco looks a bit worse, its way easier to read, and will be even more if they make adjustments to suit the desktop.
 

ccard3dev

macrumors regular
Nov 6, 2013
144
27
Michigan, US
The Mac Photos app looks great with the San Fransisco font! Can't wait for WWDC!
 

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patschwarz

macrumors newbie
Aug 29, 2014
20
1
Melbourne
Download San Fransisco font, then locate Library in finder ->fonts, then drag the font FILES into the folder, do NOT delete the other system fonts. Restart and the font will be installed and you will have OS X 10.11 sort of#
 

F1Mac

macrumors 65816
Feb 26, 2014
1,283
1,604
I don't really mind, I mean the two fonts are actually pretty similar.
I found this cool little game to see if you can spot the differences between them: LINK

They are indeed very similar, but it's in the little details that San Fransisco has the advantage (edges, spacing, width to name a few) - this is actually a much, much better system font than Helvetica.
 

ButteryScrollin

macrumors 6502a
Jul 29, 2014
863
1,790
I don't really mind, I mean the two fonts are actually pretty similar.
I found this cool little game to see if you can spot the differences between them: LINK

I got 91%... but yeah, they are very similar. SF is a little heavier, and easier to read.

They should've moved to SF from 10.10.
 

redheeler

macrumors G3
Oct 17, 2014
8,636
9,286
Colorado, USA
What do you guys think of the rumored switch from Helvetica Neue used in iOS 8 and Yosemite to Apple's new San Francisco font for the next major version of iOS and OS X?

I think it's a good move. I've compared the two side-by-side and like the look of San Fransisco a bit better.

I don't really mind, I mean the two fonts are actually pretty similar.
I found this cool little game to see if you can spot the differences between them: LINK

Took it twice and got 75%. I've been using San Francisco as the system font on my Retina iMac since November so I recognized some of the questions right away, but still kind of ashamed at that score :/

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If anyone wants to compare the two side-by-side, here are a couple screenshots at Retina resolution (Helvetica Neue followed by San Francisco).

attachment.php
attachment.php
 

myrtlebee

macrumors 68030
Jul 9, 2011
2,677
2,242
Maryland
I prefer Helvetica. Rounder and more elegant in my opinion. San Franscisco seems a bit boxy. Maybe I'll change my mind once it's implemented.
 

Yakibomb

macrumors 6502
May 13, 2014
413
60
Cape Town
I prefer Helvetica. Rounder and more elegant in my opinion. San Franscisco seems a bit boxy. Maybe I'll change my mind once it's implemented.

I think San Francisco is an attempt to address the readability issues that many people with non-retina displays complained about with Helvetica
 

dmj102

macrumors 6502
Oct 30, 2013
253
46
Canada
I just hope the SF font weight is dark enough.

I'm so sick of seeing the thin/light weight fonts that lots of websites have jumped on because it's the "in" thing. Sure it's nice looking, but it's so hard to read.

Maybe....Apple will give us a choice in system font plus the ability to darken the washed out grey menu bar. Oh wait, that's too much to ask lol.
 

xsquid

macrumors regular
May 27, 2015
125
19
I voted don't care in the poll, but I have now installed san francisco and it's easier on my old eyes. Darker. So now vote that it's good.

Here is quick install if anyone is interested. You just run the quick install code, it downloads and installs it. No muss, no fuss.

Code:
ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/supermarin/YosemiteSanFranciscoFont/master/install)"

It's listed here, mid page, so nobody thinks I am trying to pull something.

https://github.com/supermarin/YosemiteSanFranciscoFont
 

dmj102

macrumors 6502
Oct 30, 2013
253
46
Canada
I think it's a good move. I've compared the two side-by-side and like the look of San Fransisco a bit better.



Took it twice and got 75%. I've been using San Francisco as the system font on my Retina iMac since November so I recognized some of the questions right away, but still kind of ashamed at that score :/

----------

If anyone wants to compare the two side-by-side, here are a couple screenshots at Retina resolution (Helvetica Neue followed by San Francisco).

ImageImage

The first one is Helvetica Neue and it looks darker to me.
 
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