Developer's Visual Comparison of macOS Catalina and Big Sur Offers Closer Look at Apple's UI Redesign for Macs

[Naaaaak]

I miss BeOS.

Now you have macOS: BS
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So beautiful icons are now constrained to what is on the iPhone? Thats sad. They look all needlessly boxy. A better idea would be to make all the iPhone icons not boxy.

The entire interface has been re-tooled to make iOS apps running on Mac not look terrible.

 

[rp2011]

So it looks like they are making everything whiter. Is that really the direction they want to be going these days?

And there is night mode. Options are great

 

[TiggrToo]

It is the infantilization of software, making it appeal to kids rather than adults. Candification, with transparency and effects using the combined wattage of a medium nuclear power plant. Duolingofication, just plain silly.

Guess you weren’t around when Windows XP premiered.

Some people can’t handle change and then levy any complaint at change in the hopes some sticks.

 

[uuaschbaer]

Yep. Federighi claims that making all of the app icons the same size ands shape "reduces fatigue" but the more everything looks the same size and shape, the more energy it requires to tell it apart.

Same with their fluorescent background colours! On my ipad I keep opening Numbers when I want to open Messages and vice versa

 

[throAU]

A developer beta? Ummmm sure. Roll that puppy out to the production machines. That’s what your corporate IT department recommended, right? 🤣

This.

My suggestion is that unless you're a developer and need it, just wait. I've run betas before, and sure they're mostly OK but there's a reason they're beta. There's always some bugs, and you don't typically find them until you're trying to do something important and under time constraints.

It will be out soon enough - and there's nothing pressing that you can do with Big Sur currently that you can't do with previous releases.

 

[LuciusWrong]

You might not like it but this is what peak UI design looks like.

Thus is what peak "finger in the wind" looks like.

This is chasing fashion, not progress.

 

[throAU]

I don't understand the need to throw away shape as part of the visual recognition for icons. Why does everything have to be on a rounded square background?

Because it is a universally sized and shaped target to hit with the mouse, finger, etc.

Anyhow, as far as launching things goes, my process is usually pinch into launcher, type the first letter of the app and pick.... or press enter if it's already selected by default.
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Soon the Mac will be nothing more than an Apple version of the Surface Pro and it will just be iOS.

The difference here, is that due to the path taken to get there, Apple will have touch friendly apps that actually do stuff, as opposed to the Windows dumpster fire store.

 

[trusso]

A developer beta? Ummmm sure. Roll that puppy out to the production machines. That’s what your corporate IT department recommended, right? 🤣

You know he's joking and you completely missed his point, right?

Even if Apple did an about-face right now and stopped the infantilization of their OS, returning to the powerful and unshackled system it once was, corporate IT wouldn't budge. Apple's vacillated far too much for anyone to trust them, and we're all worse off for it.

 

[stringer100]

It is the infantilization of software, making it appeal to kids rather than adults. Candification, with transparency and effects using the combined wattage of a medium nuclear power plant. Duolingofication, just plain silly.

Duolingofication? I would encourage you to actually do some research on that and you'll find that visual development and change goes a long way in improvement.
The simplification of visually presented information is in no way a negative thing. Are you the kind of person who finds Microsoft Word the pinnacle of usability and design? Complexity without purpose is significantly more stupid than simplification of user experience. This 'dinosaurification' of disliking change and thinking it's for 'kids' is silly. If you free your view from nostalgia, you'll find there's actually a lot of value in changes like this.

It's really not going to ruin your life.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

iPadOS: Mac Edition.

macOS 11: iPad Edition.

Whatever... Apple is moving closer and closer to the middle of these two.

Make no mistake, Big Sur is integration step 1 (step two, really... the latest iPadOS is step 1), regardless what Apple lies...um...I mean...says about convergence. I'll believe it when I don't see it.

"Keyboard & trackpad required for best results. Mouse optional"

Personally, I don't care too much what it looks like as long as all that multitouch stuff stays as silky and accurate as ever.

That is the reason I use Macs/iPads (well, I also prefer UNIX over DOS).

 

[backslash-f]

I guess hovering is OK...it slightly less intuitive than an icon already being there. Does the other functionality I described still work? I hope so!

Yep, everything is working as you described. 🎉🎉

 

[cbusbuck]

It is the infantilization of software, making it appeal to kids rather than adults. Candification, with transparency and effects using the combined wattage of a medium nuclear power plant. Duolingofication, just plain silly.

You sound like the PC Guy (from the commercials) or a crusty mainframe nerd working for the IRS.

To your point, all software with GUI are 'infantilized', and that's a good thing.

 

[MacBH928]

not a fan of the ios icons.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Anyhow, as far as launching things goes, my process is usually pinch into launcher, type the first letter of the app and pick.... or press enter if it's already selected by default.

I use a similar approach for most apps: Cmd-Space to start a spotlight search and type one or more letters. I even use this to start some of the (few) apps I keep in my (auto hidden) Dock.

 

[throAU]

Make no mistake, Big Sur is integration step 1 (step two, really... the latest iPadOS is step 1), regardless what Apple lies...um...I mean...says about convergence. I'll believe it when I don't see it.

Mate.... Lion was step 1 - when we started getting things like launchpad. That was about a decade ago.

its no secret that there is cross pollination going on. this isn't a bad thing. they will both remain seperate platforms for some time, but there will be features implemented in both where it makes sense for ease of transition between the platforms.

apple isn't interested in selling you only one device (because there's more money in selling you 3 ideal devices than one jack of all trades/master of none like a surface), so there will be more than one platform. but they ARE interested in you being able to work effectively on both platforms as appropriate.

 

[xgman]

I don't mind the design, but why can't they start with the most stable version of the last OS and improve it? Always back to the drawing board and a million bugs and incompatabilities. Every year the same.. Then, just when the versions get stable, bam.. all over again repeat...

 

[Darth Tulhu]

Mate.... Lion was step 1 - when we started getting things like launchpad. That was about a decade ago.

its no secret that there is cross pollination going on. this isn't a bad thing. they will both remain seperate platforms for some time, but there will be features implemented in both where it makes sense for ease of transition between the platforms.

apple isn't interested in selling you only one device (because there's more money in selling you 3 ideal devices than one jack of all trades/master of none like a surface), so there will be more than one platform. but they ARE interested in you being able to work effectively on both platforms as appropriate.

Don't get me wrong, I agree that this isn't a bad thing.

And yes, "Back to the Mac" was the beginning (or you could say iPhone OS was..."iOS IS OS X" -Steve Jobs).

There is a lot of fear going around that macOS will become as limited as iOS.

I agree where I don't think that is the case in the absolute sense... On the Mac, floating windows, file system access, etc makes sense given the hardware attributes. Conversely, floating windows on an iPad makes less sense (in my opinion).

But I think Apple is consolidating to the point were the differences in the OSes will be minor and optimized for the hardware characteristics the OS runs on, with the front end being as close as possible to each other. Maybe that's what they mean when they say they're not merging the two. I hear a "yet" in there though.

 

[throAU]

But I think Apple is consolidating to the point were the differences in the OSes will be minor and optimized for the hardware characteristics the OS runs on, with the front end being as close as possible to each other. Maybe that's what they mean when they say they're not merging the two. I hear a "yet" in there though.

I agree with that 100%.

But I really don't think there's a "yet".

Microsoft made the mistake of trying to fit one platform everywhere and it was a freaking disaster. But they rushed windows to tablet in an effort to take some tablet market share (and basically failed).

Like I said it is in apple's interest to sell 3 devices (or more) per person, rather than one.

And as a user (who has work to do), it's better anyway, because you get better fit-for-purpose - AND if one of your devices dies/breaks/goes flat/gets stolen/etc. - you have another one to work with. e.g., right now if my MacBook dies, I can do 90% of my daily work (email, remote system admin stuff, word docs, teams, etc.) with the iPad without too much pain. Or even my iPhone if I'm desperate!

All your stuff tied up in one single device = complete disaster if it breaks or disappears! I'd be dead in the water until I can get another device or a repair.

 

[Jony Ive and Co.]

Jony Ive wouldn't approve ditching (to some extent) minimalism.

 

[macdos]

Your source just confirms my hypothesis about infantilization:

Then in 2018, when Duolingo started work on a separate app called Duolingo KIDS, the art team began experimenting with brighter, rounder, friendlier illustrations appropriate for a younger audience.

Duolingofication? I would encourage you to actually do some research on that and you'll find that visual development and change goes a long way in improvement.

 

[AyeJuko]

isn’t it obvious where Apple is taking Mac OS or is it just me?

IPhone 6 when it came out had a design language of hardware that hinted at an all screen iPhone in the future. Fast forward we got iPhone X or iPhone 13 whicher is truly all screen to you.

Now let’s see what Apple hinted but at WWDC:

Apple Car; Why else would maps get an ev routing option?

Apple Glasses; tbh leaks and reports already confirmed this

The future MacBook Pro; Apple chip so it performs like a steroid iPad which will be insane on all standards.

But here’s the kicker look at the UI change it looks more touch friendly.

Also apps are being ported over to Mac from iOS and it all becoming universal.

Apple is definently making a surface book competitor. Which would just dominate every laptop period. Think about it, IOS style pro apps smooth like iPad but more powerful. Meaning battery life will be insanely good enough to take the display of the MacBook like surface book and use it for way longer than a surface because despite it being a powerhouse it only gets max 3 hours battery life because of all the power sucking.

wala the future of Apple.

 

[return2sendai]

Another year in the desert for me.
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isn’t it obvious where Apple is taking Mac OS or is it just me?

IPhone 6 when it came out had a design language of hardware that hinted at an all screen iPhone in the future. Fast forward we got iPhone X or iPhone 13 whicher is truly all screen to you.

Now let’s see what Apple hinted but at WWDC:

Apple Car; Why else would maps get an ev routing option?

Apple Glasses; tbh leaks and reports already confirmed this

The future MacBook Pro; Apple chip so it performs like a steroid iPad which will be insane on all standards.

But here’s the kicker look at the UI change it looks more touch friendly.

Also apps are being ported over to Mac from iOS and it all becoming universal.

Apple is definently making a surface book competitor. Which would just dominate every laptop period. Think about it, IOS style pro apps smooth like iPad but more powerful. Meaning battery life will be insanely good enough to take the display of the MacBook like surface book and use it for way longer than a surface because despite it being a powerhouse it only gets max 3 hours battery life because of all the power sucking.

wala the future of Apple.

Sorry. Touchscreens don’t work in front of you. They are not ergonomic. Held in your hand, sure. Flat or angled, sure. But touchscreen laptops? And a touchscreen iMac!!?

 

[Darth Tulhu]

Sorry. Touchscreens don’t work in front of you. They are not ergonomic. Held in your hand, sure. Flat or angled, sure. But touchscreen laptops? And a touchscreen iMac!!?

An iMac that can do this sure would be nice:





Apple made it so that you can use a trackpad effectively with their touch interface already, so a horizontal surface for input would also not out of the realm of possibility (i.e. Pencil support on Magic TrackPads).

 

[Catman8976]

Kind of make you the yearning of when macOS was still in the days of Aqua.

Or this.

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I am glad they are changing the mail icon. I have never been a fan of the old icon with the bird stamp. The new one with the envelope is so much more simple and intuitive. Looks fine to me otherwise. Although, I hope there will be enough contrast on the menu bar for old eyes. Time will tell.

That Mail icon is by now around 20 years old.

 

[Catman8976]

Disagree. Aqua was more candified and playful than either the Yosemite look or the Big Sur look. If anything, it looks more utilitarian than previous versions.
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It’s a 3D icon that is mean to look like a bulging text bubble. It is a physically accurate reflection. It does look out of place though, along with the battery health icon.

Aqua had far more character then the modern macOS UI, which is trending the same way as Windows 10 is (even with the dropshadowing.
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Yeah, it’s fun to play with, shows how far we’ve come since 10.0. Apple was kinda thinking outside of the box before they made those into menu items. I’m sure menu items would have been easier than actual apps.

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One of the rare times I see a posted image of a 13" Wallstreet PowerBook G3.