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Apple Unveils Liquid Glass Design and Year-Based OS Naming at WWDC 2025

Developer betas deliver a translucent interface with expanded AI across Apple devices ahead of a planned public release in late 2025.

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Overview

  • Apple introduced its Liquid Glass design language across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26 and visionOS 26, featuring adaptive, semi-transparent UI elements inspired by visionOS.
  • The company replaced its traditional numbering scheme with a year-based convention—resulting in version names like iOS 26 and macOS 26—to simplify software identification.
  • iPadOS 26 adds a windowing system that lets users freely resize, move and tile app windows and introduces a Mac-style menu bar for more flexible multitasking.
  • Apple Intelligence is expanded system-wide with on-device live translation in Messages, FaceTime and Phone, visual recognition tools for screen content and an AI-powered Workout Buddy in watchOS 26.
  • Developer betas are available now, with the full updates rolling out in late 2025 and bringing a dedicated Games app, overhauled Spotlight search in macOS 26, profile switching on Apple TV and studio-quality audio recording plus camera remote on AirPods.