macOS Icon History
With macOS 26, Apple has announced a dramatically new look to their UI: Liquid Glass. Solid material icon elements give way to softer, shinier, glassier icons. The rounded rectangle became slightly more rounded, and Apple eliminated the ability for icon elements to extend beyond the icon rectangle (as seen in the current icons for GarageBand, Photo Booth, Dictionary, etc.).
With this release being one of the most dramatic visual overhauls of macOS's design, I wanted to begin a collection chronicling the evolution of the system icons over the years.
I linked to this in an update before, but I wanted to highlight it again since he’s been posting updates on social media and this post collects everything in one place. The new 26 icons will be GM very soon.
Previously:
- One Size Does Not Fit All
- macOS Tahoe 26 Developer Beta 9
- Assorted Notes on Liquid Glass
- macOS Tahoe 26 Developer Beta 2
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I gotta say in almost every case, the current or 2020 icon is the best of all of them. In a couple of cases the ones they are introducing are good, but they mostly just look like blurrier versions of the current icons.
In a few cases, the simplified version of what they had already simplified in 2020 is a bit better, though Calendar now gives no hint that it's actually a calendar and not just a date widget.
Basically every example from Mail all the way to the end looks much worse though.
This page basically shows how they reached peak icon design around 2020 and are now throwing it all away.
That Pages inkwell icon is and always will be a work of art.
What a depressing slide into design hell this is.
I'm going to disagree with Bart.
I would suggest they all fall off a cliff around 2013-2014, and just keep getting worse.
Now what could have happened in the year or two proceeding that which could have allowed poor design and bad taste to proliferate in Apple's UI department?
Around 1995 is it for me, seeing those icons gives me a feeling of excitement and opportunity.
@billyok: the Inkwell icon would also well in the coming glasspocalypse.
