At a time when most of the tech industry is building new artificial intelligence systems into our devices, Apple is focusing on making its products look prettier.
In a 90-minute presentation on Monday, Apple revealed a new design for its software powering iPhones, iPads and Macs that brings a transparent aesthetic to tabs, files and app icons. It will allow Safari web pages to cover an entire page, with the tab bar disappearing as users scroll down. It also minimizes controls into a small circle that can be brought to the surface with a tap. In Apple fashion, the company calls the translucent design “liquid glass.”
The company also introduced a new naming system for its software based on the fiscal year when it becomes available rather than the number of iterations. Instead of iOS 19, this year’s system is being called iOS 26.
The new features show how Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, is looking to increase sales of his company’s most important product with useful new features, even if those abilities are out of step with the industry’s zeal for everything A.I. In doing so, Apple is wagering it can be late to embrace an emerging technology but still take it mainstream before its competitors.
At its developer conference in May, Google revealed an A.I. search feature that functions like a chatbot, an update to its Gemini model, and glasses with an A.I. virtual assistant. In February, Amazon unveiled an improved Alexa that uses A.I. to help book concert tickets and coordinate calendars.
Apple said its A.I. system, which it calls Apple Intelligence, will add abilities such as allowing apps to use the A.I. capabilities built into its devices. As a result, the hiking app AllTrails can add a conversational search system, allowing users, for example, to write that they’re looking for a nearby family hike that is under three miles. They can refine it by adding that they want hikes with waterfalls.
