Apple debuts macOS 11 Big Sur with a design featuring more rounded corners, new Control Center, redesigned Notification Center with widgets, updated Messages
Over the past two years, macOS Mojave and Catalina gently evolved to aid developers in creating universal apps for Macs and iPads …
VentureBeat Jeremy Horwitz
Context & Ripple Effects
Big Sur ends two release cycles of quiet groundwork: macOS Mojave and Catalina spent their lives easing developers toward universal Mac-and-iPad apps, and the June 2020 reveal spends that credit on the platform's most visible overhaul in years — rounded corners, a Control Center borrowed from iOS, and a widget-bearing Notification Center. The same week, analysts read the new visual language as neumorphism, an iteration of skeuomorphism built around light moving through 3D space.
First-order effects
- Mac users immediately get iOS-style system controls — Control Center and widgetized notifications — collapsing the last big day-to-day differences between operating a Mac and an iPad.
- Third-party Mac developers now face a design-debt deadline: apps still styled for Catalina-era chrome will look out of place against Big Sur's rounded, translucent system UI.
Second-order effects
- The bet pays off downstream: by Big Sur 11.3, Apple is shipping M1 optimizations alongside resizable iPhone and iPad app windows on Macs, tying the interface unification directly to running mobile-class apps on desktop hardware.
Third-order effects
- Big Sur establishes the template Apple keeps iterating on — five years later the company announces macOS Tahoe with Liquid Glass following reports of a visionOS-inspired revamp across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, making Big Sur the starting point of a single cross-platform design language.
The trend: Apple is converging macOS and iPadOS into one shared visual and interaction model, with each major release since Big Sur pulling the desktop closer to its mobile and spatial-computing siblings.
Related: Apple · Control Center · macOS 11 Big Sur release · Neumorphism in macOS 11 · Big Sur 11.3 M1 optimizations · macOS 26 Tahoe Liquid Glass
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Discussion
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@pierce
David Pierce
on x
I know it's not the most important device Apple makes, but I'm absolutely convinced the iPad is the one Apple designers care the most about. It drives everything else now https://twitter.com/...
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@ow
@ow
on x
macOS: it's iOS now https://twitter.com/...
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@eljulianlozano
Julian Lozano
on x
I'm not ready for Skeuomorphism. Those app icons already look like from 2007.
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@stshank
Stephen Shankland
on x
Whoopsie! Apple called its new MacOS version “Bug Sur” in email subject line. Could have been worse, I suppose. They could have called it Bug Sure. https://twitter.com/...
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@benthompson
Ben Thompson
on x
macOS BS
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@_inside
Guilherme Rambo
on x
Apps in macOS Big Sur can define their own custom accent colors #WWDC20
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@lapcatsoftware
Jeff Johnson
on x
“New in macOS Big Sur 11 beta, the system ships with a built-in dynamic linker cache of all system-provided libraries. As part of this change, copies of dynamic libraries are no longer present on the filesystem.” https://developer.apple.com/ ...
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@siracusa
John Siracusa
on x
Even the tops of menus are rounded in Big Sur. https://twitter.com/...
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@mulligan
Brenden Mulligan
on x
App Clips will be impactful because... 1. Normal people have become used to the routine of tapping a phone for Apple Pay. The idea of tapping a phone for quicker ordering/checkout won't be foreign. Assuming devs don't add a lot of weight between tap and checkout, it'll work.
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@benthompson
Ben Thompson
on x
App Clip, because it clips 30% of your revenue.
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@joannastern
Joanna Stern
on x
Buried on the iOS and iPadOS feature slide... https://twitter.com/...
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@reneritchie
Rene Ritchie
on x
HTC once said very few people changed default widgets on Android and usage stats were very low. A year from now, I'd love to see usage stats on how many iPhone/iPads users added/used widgets. (And will complication-style widgets with full dev support drive higher usage?)
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@dhh
@dhh
on x
We've just tried HEY and Basecamp on iOS 14. Both are working great! If Apple will allow us without the shake-down, we'll keep cracking on making HEY worthy of the spot as the default mail client for our customers 🙏✌️ #WWDC20
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@rosssmithiv
Ross Smith IV
on x
In @Apple iOS14 you will be able to set @Outlook and @MicrosoftEdge as the default iOS/iPadOS mail and web apps, respectively! Huge win for enterprises! 💥 #edge #outlook #ems https://twitter.com/...
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@headius
Charles Nutter
on x
The fact that people are SO EXCITED that iOS will let you choose a different default mail app shows how backwards that platform is. Good job catching up with 2010, Apple. 👏
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@andreasbovens
Andreas Bovens
on x
In iOS 14, users who want to set another browser as their default can finally do so (hint: I hear Firefox for iOS is pretty good!). It's a step in the right direction, but I'd love to see true web engine differentiation on iOS as well! https://9to5mac.com/...
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@jakeashacks
Jake James
on x
New record broken. iPad Air 2 & iPad Mini 4 got their seventh major iOS release! https://www.apple.com/...
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@tomwarren
Tom Warren
on x
I just installed iOS 14, and wow https://twitter.com/...
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@benedictevans
Benedict Evans
on x
Yes, Apple is now blocking Google Analytics entirely, even with anonymised IP. https://twitter.com/...
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@pwnallthethings
@pwnallthethings
on x
Kudos to Apple for adding these new privacy notices to the App screen and making developers say how apps are tracking your data https://twitter.com/...
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@panzer
Matthew Panzarino
on x
This new privacy disclosure policy from Apple is quick but it's a shockwave level thing for ad driven businesses. https://twitter.com/...
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@tomwarren
Tom Warren
on x
iOS 14 widgets look great. Clearly inspired by Windows Phone and Android, but with the usual Apple touch https://twitter.com/...
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@carnage4life
Dare Obasanjo
on x
And this is the icing on the strategy credit cake. Coincidentally this hurts the business model of their biggest competition, Google. Oops shouldn't say that out loud. 🤐 https://twitter.com/...
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@markgurman
Mark Gurman
on x
All the new betas feel pretty good for the first releases. iOS 14 update feels pretty minor aside from widgets, which are excellent. Big Sur is great so far, but I think windowing will confuse some people (it's not as clear which is the active window as before).
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@sam_l_shead
Sam Shead
on x
Apple forgot to mention this yesterday. This is Apple trying to address those competition concerns from the EU and the US. https://www.cnbc.com/...
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@benbajarin
Ben Bajarin
on x
Yep. Most mainstream Android consumers don't customize their home screens or set up widgets. This is largely a power user feature. Which is good enough reason for it to exist. https://twitter.com/...
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@tomwarren
Tom Warren
on x
Apple's new iOS 14 home screen is without a doubt the most exciting announcement to me today. Not having to jump into apps for small nuggets of information like weather / news / calendar has been great on Android and Windows Phone in the past. I'm happy Apple finally delivered 😊 …
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@reneritchie
Rene Ritchie
on x
Third parties will be able to plug into the Find My network. https://developer.apple.com/find- my