Exclusive | Major iOS 16 Updates Coming to Prepare for Apple’s New Product Categories

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iOS hasn’t had a huge change for almost ten years. iOS 7 was the last major change to iOS with a whole new user experience and flatter design. With the latest era of Tim Cook introducing new and innovative product categories, Apple will use WWDC 2022 to prepare us for tech’s new world.

Modern Icons

Apple in iOS 15 updated Apple Maps and redesigned Weather with a new design language. Those icons have a new, more modern color palette as well as more depth. These icons look much better, and comparing them with the other icons in iOS 15; they stand out.

iOS 16, from what I’ve heard, will have more new icons similar to the latest Apple Maps and Weather icons. The new icons won’t necessarily look like macOS Big Sur or Monterey icons, but the design traits will be very similar.

Increasing depth and adding back some 3D elements or making modern versions of the original iOS icons that were similar to OS X icons – that’s what Apple is looking to go back to. From what I was told, Alan Dye and his team have been working on these new icons for about a year now.

Redesigned Control Center

The Control Center was last redesigned in 2017 with iOS 11. This design has stood well, but with the iPhone 14 soon to receive the largest redesign it has ever had, and with there being another Max model, we could be looking at a new Control Center – very similar, not the same, as the new redesigned macOS Control Center.

Hole-Punch Display Optimization

Apple will also be optimizing the displays due to new hole-punch screens. These displays will provide more screen real-estate compared to iPhones with the notch that we currently have. With that being said, Apple could possibly make the iPhone’s footprint smaller as they did in 2020 with the 6.1″ and 6.7″ iPhones.

Providing consumers with more screen real-estate means more information can be provided, and iOS 16 will be the way Apple tells developers over the summer to get prepared for these new devices in the fall.

More AR/VR Capabilities

More AR/VR capabilities are coming to prepare for the fall launch of the Mixed Reality Headset. For the Pro models, Apple may optimize the LiDAR sensor to give developers and consumers more AR use-case scenarios in the real world, which eventually will be the job of the Apple Glasses in 2023.

Getting Ready for the Future

Apple redesigned macOS Big Sur with a significant new design, but has kept iOS relatively the same since iOS 7. I think Apple wanted to wait on major iOS updates to get consumers ready for its next big products over the next five years.

iOS 16 is expected to bring many major changes, which usually happens when Apple prepares for bigger iPhone updates and redesigns, and iOS 16 will be no exception. This time Apple also has to include new product category development for iOS 16 and iOS 16.1 for the Mixed Reality Headset.

Those products will have new user interfaces, too. And so giving users a seamless experience means Apple would also have to update iOS, since the iPhone will control the Apple Mixed Reality Headset, Apple Glasses, and even the Apple Car.

Are you excited for the next major release of iOS?

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]

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