At WWDC 2025, Apple Unveils Liquid Glass and Previews New OS Options

Apple’s Worldwide Developer Convention keynote was a lightning-fast 92-minute tour of Apple’s imaginative and prescient for the way we’ll use its merchandise within the subsequent yr. Apple wove two themes by way of the presentation: the brand new Liquid Glass design language will present a constant feel and appear throughout all its platforms, and Apple Intelligence-powered options will proceed to look all through the ecosystem. The opposite overarching information is that Apple is adopting a brand new annual versioning strategy, much like automotive mannequin years, so the model quantity for every working system shall be 26.

Apple previewed quite a few options in the course of the keynote and listed much more on its web site afterward. Beneath, we’ll give attention to these we expect will take advantage of distinction to your Apple expertise, however we additionally encourage you to learn Apple’s pages for every platform to be taught extra about what’s coming. These are linked right here, together with primary {hardware} necessities, so you’ll be able to decide in case your gadgets shall be eligible to improve this fall:

• macOS 26 Tahoe: MacBook Air with Apple silicon (2020 and later), MacBook Professional with Apple silicon (2020 and later), MacBook Professional (16‑inch, 2019), MacBook Professional (13‑inch, 2020, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports), iMac (2020 and later), Mac mini (2020 and later), Mac Studio (2022 and later), Mac Professional (2019 and later)
• iOS 26: iPhone SE (2nd technology), iPhone 11, and later
• iPadOS 26: iPad (eighth technology and later), iPad mini (fifth technology and later), iPad Air (third technology and later), iPad Professional 11‑inch (1st technology and later), iPad Professional 12.9‑inch (third technology and later), and iPad Professional (M4)
• watchOS 26: Apple Watch SE (2nd technology), Apple Watch Sequence 6 and later, and Apple Watch Extremely and later
• visionOS 26: All Imaginative and prescient Professional headsets
• tvOS 26: Apple TV 4K

First, let’s have a look at Liquid Glass, after which we’ll study a handful of adjustments we expect Apple customers will discover most attention-grabbing.

Liquid Glass Provides Apple’s Platforms a Recent Look

Apple’s final main interface redesign occurred in 2013 with the discharge of iOS 7. Since then, the corporate’s {hardware} and graphics applied sciences have superior considerably, enabling the brand new Liquid Glass interface design. It brings to life a brand new glass-like “materials” for interface parts that blurs the road between the bodily and the digital. Liquid Glass is each translucent and malleable, permitting background content material to refract by way of the controls, which may morph, flex, and illuminate in response to person interplay.

Liquid Glass encompasses all of Apple’s platforms and extends to each side of the interface, together with controls, navigation bars, tabs and sidebars, alerts, widgets, icons, the menu bar, and the Dock. Functionally, Apple has taken the chance to enhance some interactions, so alerts seem from the place you faucet moderately than taking up your complete show, and context menus increase into scannable lists moderately than requiring awkward horizontal scrolling. Whenever you work together with toolbars or different controls, they increase and develop into extra outstanding, however as quickly as you’re performed, they reduce themselves to allow you to give attention to the content material. Watch Apple’s intro video to get a really feel for it.

The principle concern with Liquid Glass is that it might lack distinction and be troublesome to learn for these whose imaginative and prescient isn’t good. Up to now, Apple has offered a Scale back Transparency choice within the Accessibility settings for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS to remove any shade bleeding by way of translucent menus and dialogs; we’ll see if such an choice proves obligatory for some.

iPadOS 26 Takes Classes from macOS

Ever for the reason that introduction of the iPad, individuals have been pissed off by the extent to which it was a bigger iPhone moderately than a smaller, touch-sensitive Mac. Apple took small steps towards enhancing productiveness by including options like Slide Over and Cut up View, however they have been fussy to make use of and by no means achieved widespread acceptance. With iPadOS 26, Apple has lastly acknowledged that the iPad ought to simply work extra like a Mac. To that finish, iPadOS 26 will provide Mac-like options within the following areas:

• Window administration: Each app can now be remodeled right into a standalone window that you would be able to transfer and resize freely. Home windows bear in mind their measurement and place, and you may tile them flexibly, with choices to separate the display into two, three, or 4 sections. The acquainted site visitors gentle window controls from the Mac reappear together with the macOS Transfer & Resize and Fill & Prepare choices. Swiping up invokes Exposé, permitting you to view all home windows and swap to your required one simply.
  
• Menu bar and Dock: iPadOS features a menu bar that appears and works just like the one on the Mac, nevertheless it solely seems once you swipe down from the highest of the display. You can even put folders within the Dock and entry their contents in a lot the identical approach docked folders seem as a stack on the Mac.
  
• Filesystem entry: The Information app resembles a Finder window rather more now, because of the addition of collapsible folders and resizable columns. It lets you choose which apps will open particular doc sorts and even modify the defaults. Moreover, you’ll be able to customise folders with colours and icons.
  
• Preview makes the transfer: One of many core Mac apps, Preview, is coming to the iPad. Simply as on the Mac, you need to use Preview for viewing and enhancing photographs and PDFs, and it affords full help for the Apple Pencil.
  
• Background processing: Computationally intensive processes and different actions that take a very long time, like exporting edited movies and downloading giant information, can now run within the background when you interact in different duties.
  

Apple Intelligence Expands Throughout the Ecosystem

Apple Intelligence has been removed from a rousing success, with Apple’s failure to ship final yr’s promised replace to Siri being probably the most outstanding misstep. However Apple isn’t giving up and shall be tapping into Apple Intelligence in lots of extra locations throughout all its working methods and apps.

Much more essential, the corporate introduced that it’s opening Apple Intelligence to builders, so we are able to anticipate to see options powered by Apple’s on-device giant language fashions showing in third-party apps this fall. That’s a giant deal as a result of Apple’s fashions present quick response instances, prioritize privateness, and incur no per-prompt prices.

Among the new and expanded makes use of of Apple Intelligence embrace:

• Visible Intelligence: Now you can use Visible Intelligence to be taught extra about and act on info displayed in your iPhone display. You can analysis a bit of clothes you see whereas shopping, or create a calendar occasion based mostly on a social media banner. You can even ask ChatGPT about something you see on display.
• Shortcuts will get Apple Intelligence: New intelligence actions in Shortcuts allow you to leverage Apple Intelligence to summarize textual content, create photographs, and extra. Apparently, shortcuts may even entry Apple Intelligence’s Personal Cloud Compute for extra power-intensive duties.
• Picture Playground & ChatGPT: When utilizing Picture Playground, you’ll be able to create photographs in a greater variety of kinds with ChatGPT.
• Mix emoji for Genmoji: Beforehand, you can use textual content descriptions to create customized Genmoji; now, you may make them by combining current emoji.
• Messages backgrounds: Chats in Messages will provide shared backgrounds, and customers can create customized backgrounds with Picture Playground.
• Messages polls: Group chats in Messages will achieve polls—the place ought to we go for dinner tonight?—and Apple Intelligence will robotically detect when a ballot could be useful and counsel one.
• Pockets order particulars: With Apple Intelligence, the Pockets app can establish and summarize order particulars, together with monitoring info.
• Exercise Buddy: Within the watchOS 26 Exercise app, Apple Intelligence powers a digital exercise buddy that talks to you when you train, providing motivation, real-time stats, and post-workout suggestions.

These new purposes of Apple Intelligence could not rock your world, however collectively, they provide some appreciated enhancements. We additionally sit up for seeing how builders leverage Apple Intelligence fashions in revolutionary methods.

Reside Translation Edges Towards the Common Translator

Maybe probably the most vital extra characteristic pushed by Apple Intelligence within the new working methods is Reside Translation. It’s built-in into the Telephone, FaceTime, and Messages apps. Within the Telephone app, you get spoken translations between supported languages. In FaceTime, you see the opposite particular person’s translated textual content as a caption, and Messages interprets their textual content. Reside Translations could show to be a lifesaver in your subsequent worldwide journey.

Highlight Beneficial properties Enhanced Capabilities

Everytime you do a search on the Mac, you’re utilizing Highlight. It may well additionally search inside apps like Contacts and Calendar, entry numerous on-line sources, open paperwork, launch apps, and extra. Regardless of that, Highlight has paled compared to launchers like Alfred, LaunchBar, and Raycast. No extra.

In Apple’s new working methods, Focus will allow customers to carry out tons of of actions throughout numerous apps. It would even be able to understanding what you’re engaged on and suggesting related information, apps, or actions. As an illustration, you’ll be capable to begin a timer, create calendar occasions, generate a brand new electronic mail message with pre-filled fields, play a podcast episode, and extra.

Highlight additionally introduces the idea of “fast keys,” that are quick, customized mnemonics for particular actions. As an illustration, you would possibly sort sm to set off Highlight to ship a message or ar so as to add a reminder.

As well as, Highlight turns into a clipboard supervisor, offering entry to lately copied gadgets, together with textual content, photographs, and hyperlinks. You may browse, search, and insert earlier clipboard entries instantly by way of Highlight.

Telephone App Introduces Name Screening and Maintain Help

Telephone calls might not be the first use of the iPhone for many individuals, however they continue to be a reality of life. With iOS 26, Apple has launched two options that, in the event that they work as promised, will alleviate two widespread ache factors related to calls.

Name Screening builds on the Reside Voicemail characteristic by robotically answering calls from unknown numbers, with out even alerting you. As soon as the caller offers their title and the rationale for his or her name, the Telephone app rings and presents info that will help you resolve whether or not to reply.

The opposite new characteristic is Maintain Help, which robotically detects maintain music and asks if you’d like it to attend on maintain for you, permitting you to take care of different duties. When somebody on the opposite finish picks up, it informs them that you simply’ll be there shortly and notifies you that it’s time to return to the decision.

Though we consider utilizing the Telephone app completely on the iPhone, Apple can also be bringing it to macOS 26 and iPadOS 26, because of Continuity. When you improve, you’ll be capable to benefit from these options—and Reside Translation—on these platforms as properly.

Dismiss Notifications with the Flick of a Wrist

Lastly, watchOS 26 introduces a brand new gesture that we consider shall be standard: the wrist flick. At any time when a notification seems on display, you’ll be able to rapidly rotate your wrist away from you to dismiss it. This characteristic is a good little addition to the Apple Watch interplay mannequin.

If none of those adjustments appear earthshaking to you, we agree. With six working methods and billions of customers, Apple can’t transfer as rapidly as smaller firms. Whereas Liquid Glass will dramatically change the look of our Apple gadgets, the opposite new options shouldn’t require us to be taught fully new strategies of interplay.

(Featured picture by Apple)