Three reasons iOS 19 redesign could be bigger than iOS 7

I started using OS X full-time when I was 18 and the Mac was 25. Booting up my first Apple computer, a 2009 MacBook Pro running OS X 10.5 Leopard, was like getting behind the wheel of a Porsche for the first time after being raised on pedestrian PCs. Now it’s the iPhone and its software that are 18. In Macintosh terms, the iPhone and iOS are in the iMac G4 “iLamp” running OS X 10.2 Jaguar era — maturing products and platforms that still have room to grow up. For this reason, I am still one to welcome changes to the way things look with open arms. ‘It looks different’ is a great feature if the way it looks is cool. “Does it look cooler” is a different question than “does it look better.” The former has more to do with trends while the latter is a matter of longevity. If a change can be both stylish and practical such that it can last for years, then that’s a design change success. iOS 7 was too polarizing and required too many iterations before reaching stability to really hit that mark. iOS 19 has the potential to meet both metrics. It could also be a bigger deal than iOS 7 for three reasons. more…

Apr 2, 2025 - 21:56

Three reasons iOS 19 redesign could be bigger than iOS 7

I started using OS X full-time when I was 18 and the Mac was 25. Booting up my first Apple computer, a 2009 MacBook Pro running OS X 10.5 Leopard, was like getting behind the wheel of a Porsche for the first time after being raised on pedestrian PCs.

Now it’s the iPhone and its software that are 18. In Macintosh terms, the iPhone and iOS are in the iMac G4 “iLamp” running OS X 10.2 Jaguar era — maturing products and platforms that still have room to grow up.

For this reason, I am still one to welcome changes to the way things look with open arms. ‘It looks different’ is a great feature if the way it looks is cool. “Does it look cooler” is a different question than “does it look better.” The former has more to do with trends while the latter is a matter of longevity.

If a change can be both stylish and practical such that it can last for years, then that’s a design change success. iOS 7 was too polarizing and required too many iterations before reaching stability to really hit that mark. iOS 19 has the potential to meet both metrics. It could also be a bigger deal than iOS 7 for three reasons. more…