After months of rumors, Apple has formally unveiled its large iOS 26 ‘Liquid Glass’ redesign, and already the brand new design has made me need the forthcoming iPhone 17 Air greater than ever. Right here’s why.
Liquid Glass blends iPhone {hardware} and software program extra seamlessly than ever
The brand new Liquid Glass design of iOS 26 and Apple’s different platforms will not be a short-term change.
As Craig Federighi stated within the keynote, this can be a once-in-a-decade form of shift for Apple. It units the stage for years of upcoming {hardware} improvements.
The extra time I’ve spent contemplating iOS 26’s new design, the extra excited I get for one upcoming product: the iPhone 17 Air.
That’s as a result of by the point iOS 26 ships this fall, Apple may have simply revealed its new ultra-thin iPhone mannequin.
A mannequin that little question was designed with Liquid Glass in thoughts.
Designer Sebastiaan de With, in his iOS 26 idea ‘Residing Glass’, put it effectively earlier than WWDC began:
Philosophically, if I used to be Apple, I’d describe this as lastly having an interface that matches the attractive materials properties of its gadgets. All of the surfaces of your gadgets have glass screens. This brings an interface of an identical materials, giving the person a sense of the glass itself coming alive.
That’s a good way to explain the brand new interface.
With Liquid Glass, iOS 26 goals to seamlessly merge your iPhone’s {hardware} and software program. It’s a tighter union than has ever existed earlier than.
However that pairing might, I think, shine finest on the ultra-thin new iPhone 17 Air.
Why iPhone 17 Air might be the very best match for iOS 26
Once I was watching the WWDC keynote, as Federighi interacted with iOS 26 on his iPhone, I couldn’t assist however assume: that iPhone seems to be too outdated for the brand new software program.
What I imply is that the thick, cumbersome design of present iPhones doesn’t really feel as effectively fitted to Liquid Glass.
Clearly that is solely subjective. However to me, Liquid Glass appears constructed for gadgets the place the show is the only design attribute, and nothing else attracts consideration to itself.
It’s the dream “single slab of glass” design that Jony Ive lengthy sought.
That imaginative and prescient is set to be most totally realized in 2027, when a particular twentieth anniversary ‘all-screen’ iPhone is predicted to debut.
I’m certain Liquid Glass will look attractive on that iPhone, and in addition on eventual AR-equipped Apple Glasses.
However for this 12 months, iPhone 17 Air looks as if the very best realization of this imaginative and prescient.
Liquid Glass will in fact be a pleasant change for any and all iPhone fashions.
But it surely’s the iPhone 17 Air, with its radically modern design, that might really feel most like a style of the longer term at this time.
Once I see iOS 26 and Liquid Glass, I see a design that’s made for thinner, lighter iPhones.
That’s precisely what iPhone 17 Air is ready to ship.
Do you assume iOS 26’s Liquid Glass design makes iPhone 17 Air extra interesting? Why or why not? Tell us within the feedback.
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