WWDC 2025 Impressions: Liquid Glass!

Summary

MKBHD covers everything announced at Apple’s WWDC 2025, where Apple unified all platform version numbers to 26 (iOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, visionOS 26) and introduced the “Liquid Glass” design language across the entire ecosystem. The transparent, glassy aesthetic pervades everything from icons to dialogue boxes to the lock screen clock. While visually fresh and consistent with visionOS, MKBHD raises concerns about readability when transparent elements overlap complex backgrounds.

The biggest surprise was iPadOS 26, which received Mac-like features that Apple had resisted for years: floating windows, stoplight window controls, a literal Mac menu bar, a redesigned cursor, a new Files app, background activities for exports, and audio device selection. MKBHD says this moves the iPad Pro “way further on the spectrum of compelling laptop replacement.” Other notable additions include Call Screening and Hold For Me coming to iOS (borrowed from Pixel), a redesigned camera app, and a massively upgraded Spotlight on macOS that threatens third-party apps like Raycast.

Perhaps most telling, the word “Siri” was mentioned only twice in the 90-minute keynote, with Apple essentially admitting the big LLM Siri upgrade needs “more time” and will come in 2026.

Highlights

”The biggest update to iPadOS ever”

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“Every iPad Pro video for the last six years has always said the same thing. It’s great. It’s amazing hardware. It’s very powerful. But it’s still an iPad… But with this update, I feel like they actually use the word game changer, and I actually feel like it is because they added things straight from the Mac.” — Marques Brownlee, 12:52

”Siri mentioned only twice”

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“I looked at the transcript. They said the word Siri two times in that entire 90-minute keynote. So that clearly wasn’t a big focus… The statement was, ‘This work required more time and we look forward to sharing more in the coming year.’ 2026. We will see.” — Marques Brownlee, 16:20

”Liquid Glass readability concerns”

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“This glass aesthetic, it looks cool sometimes but it also is a little concerning. Like, I get that the clear look is fresh. But also there’s a reason we add backgrounds to things in the video world — it’s to provide more contrast to make things easier to read.” — Marques Brownlee, 5:47

”Apple’s new Spotlight vs Raycast”

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“My favorite app, and it has been for years, every fresh new Mac I install it first, is called Raycast. And it’s basically Spotlight on steroids… So now Apple comes out in macOS 26 and it does a lot of that.” — Marques Brownlee, 9:26

”Flip to dismiss on watchOS”

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“If you ever get a notification and you don’t wanna deal with it, you can just flip your wrist and it goes away. Phone call you don’t wanna accept? Flip it. Alarm? Just flip your wrist. I think I’ll be doing this all the time.” — Marques Brownlee, 6:49

Key Points

• Unified version numbers (1:00) - All platforms now use “26” instead of separate numbering
• Liquid Glass design (1:30) - Transparent, glassy aesthetic applied to all icons, dialogue boxes, and UI elements
• Readability concerns (5:47) - Transparent elements may be harder to read against complex backgrounds
• Redesigned camera app (2:42) - Simplified to just photo and video with advanced settings hidden behind swipe-up
• Call Screening and Hold For Me (3:58) - Pixel features now coming to iOS 26
• iMessage updates (4:25) - Native polls, typing indicators showing who’s typing, custom chat backgrounds
• Translation everywhere (4:46) - Live translation added to FaceTime, Messages, Phone app using on-device AI
• watchOS flip to dismiss (6:49) - Flip wrist to dismiss notifications, calls, alarms
• Workout DJ feature (7:20) - Spotify DJ-like voice coaching during Apple Watch workouts
• macOS Spotlight overhaul (9:26) - Major upgrade threatening Raycast with file search, shortcuts, app actions
• Live Activities on Mac (8:58) - iPhone Live Activities now appear in Mac menu bar
• visionOS 26 widgets (11:05) - Pinnable 3D widgets with customizable size, depth, and color
• visionOS remembers placement (11:48) - Widget positions persist through reboots now
• PlayStation VR2 controller support (12:18) - Added for more precise visionOS interactions
• iPadOS 26 windowing (13:53) - Mac-like floating windows, stoplight controls, menu bar
• iPadOS background activities (15:27) - Exports continue when apps are closed
• Siri delayed to 2026 (17:26) - LLM Siri upgrade pushed back with minimal mention at keynote
• Visual Intelligence from screenshots (17:49) - Screenshot-based Visual Intelligence coming to iPhone

Mentions

Companies

• Apple (0:03) - Host of WWDC 2025
• Google (0:49) - Compared to Apple’s AI approach at their earlier event
• Samsung (1:23) - Mentioned for matching year in version numbering
• Meta (1:40) - Making headlines about potentially creating dedicated iPad apps
• OpenAI (5:57) - ChatGPT integrated into Apple Intelligence
• GoPro (12:37) - Native camera support added to visionOS

Products & Technologies

• iOS 26 (2:01) - New iPhone operating system with Liquid Glass
• macOS Tahoe (8:11) - New Mac operating system with heavy glass effects
• visionOS 26 (10:55) - Vision Pro update, origin of the glass aesthetic
• iPadOS 26 (12:48) - Biggest iPad update ever with Mac-like features
• Raycast (9:46) - Third-party Mac launcher that new Spotlight now competes with
• Pixelmator (1:03) - Example of a good dedicated iPad app
• Final Cut Pro (15:31) - Can now export in background on iPad

Surprising Quotes

“They said the word Siri two times in that entire 90-minute keynote.” — 16:24

“The statement was, ‘This work required more time and we look forward to sharing more in the coming year.’ 2026.” — 17:39

“Every iPad Pro video for the last six years has always said the same thing. But with this update, I feel like it actually is a game changer.” — 12:52

“It’s funny because we know Apple’s going to start doing this glassy stuff too” — referring to Android 16 already adopting transparent overlays — 10:09

Transcript

0:00 All right, so today was for 2025 WWDC. And it was actually a really interesting one. I was kind of wondering how this would go because in this landscape of AI, AI, AI, everyone’s talking about it and it feels like Apple could go one of two ways. They could either double down and just lean right in, or they could shelf some of that stuff but show a whole bunch of other stuff and hope that’s good enough. They definitely did the second thing. There’s much more other stuff than AI versus what Google was doing earlier. But I do think that other stuff was actually kind of a lot.

1:00 So first of all, they’ve unified all their platforms this year. So instead of having iOS 19, macOS 16, watchOS 12, and visionOS 3, they’re now just doing 26 across the board. Kind of the same thing Samsung just did with their phones in 2020. And everything is getting this Liquid Glass aesthetic over everything to be unified as well. It’s more obvious in some places and less noticeable in others. But in general they’re treating every dialogue box that they possibly can as a transparent, mostly glassy surface. Even the lock screen clock and some texts, some fonts.

2:01 Let’s start with iOS 26 because this is the biggest one. All of the icons are slightly updated. The lock screen clock adapts to the size of the display. Once you unlock the iPhone, it doesn’t look that different. But they also kept showing this option where all of the widgets can be transparent. It’s a new option, and you can never turn it on if you don’t want to. But I just think it’s a little much. And readability might be kind of tough.

2:40 Beyond the Liquid Glass thing, there are some new features. They redesigned the camera app — really for the first time — it’s now super simplified to just photo and video, and then there’s a whole drawer of other modes you swipe to access. The frames per second and resolution settings are behind a little button up there on the corner, which is a really interesting choice for an iPhone where you kind of want people to discover features.

3:35 There’s also a new FaceTime layout to quickly hit up your main contacts. The phone app and missed calls and contacts have been redesigned. And they’ve matched two key Pixel features from the phone app: Call Screening and Hold For Me. So now in iOS 26, the phone can automatically answer the call for you, transcribe it before trying to ring you, and the Hold Assist just waits on hold for you. Both super useful.

4:25 There’s also native polls in iMessage, typing indicators showing which person is typing, and you can add pictures as backgrounds for each of your iMessage chats. And then I would say the biggest cross-platform feature is translate — Apple added live translation to FaceTime, Messages, and the Phone app using on-device AI models.

5:39 My main concern from playing with this a little — the glass aesthetic looks cool sometimes but it also is a little concerning. There’s a reason we add backgrounds to things: to provide contrast and make things easier to read. There were many bits of text like notifications that just looked harder to read. The OS is supposed to adapt by giving light things dark backgrounds and vice versa, but sometimes you’ll have a half light, half dark background and that’s where things get weird.

6:36 WatchOS 26 also got a lot of the glass treatment. Beyond that, I really like the flip to dismiss feature. If you ever get a notification and you don’t wanna deal with it, just flip your wrist and it goes away. Phone call, alarm, whatever — just flip your wrist. I think I’ll be doing this all the time. And there’s a new workout coaching feature I’d describe as Spotify DJ but for Apple Watch workouts, that talks to you with stats, motivation, and your mile splits. Still no group fitness challenges though.

7:53 TvOS 26 — honestly not a huge upgrade. The icons shimmer a little differently, allegedly.

8:10 MacOS 26 Tahoe — this one you notice. Way more glass and some of it can look cool, others feel cartoony. The Control Center feels a little more cartoony with its buttons. You can do clear widgets, clear dock. One really good feature: iPhone Live Activities now show up in the Mac menu bar. But the number one biggest thing on the Mac is the new Spotlight. My favorite Mac app for years has been Raycast, basically Spotlight on steroids. Now Apple comes out and in macOS 26, Spotlight does a lot of what Raycast does — file searches, shortcuts from inside apps, real power user stuff. It doesn’t do everything Raycast does yet, but who’s to say next year it won’t.

10:55 VisionOS — this is where all the glass came from. The new widgets are awesome. You can pin 3D widgets and customize the size, depth, and color. Really convincing location pinning with reflectivity. Also, visionOS now remembers where you put your widgets through a reboot, which was one of my biggest complaints. Updated persona fidelity is more photorealistic. They added PlayStation VR2 controller support and a new Jupiter environment.

12:48 But the biggest, most surprising update by far was iPadOS 26. Every iPad Pro video for the last six years has always said the same thing: great hardware, but still an iPad. We never expected Apple to add computer-like features because they make computers too. But with this update, they added things straight from the Mac: floating windows, stoplight window controls, a literal Mac menu bar at the top, a redesigned cursor, a new Files app, background activities so exports continue when apps are closed, and audio device selection for all media apps. This moves the iPad way further on the spectrum of compelling laptop replacement.

16:11 Were all those features meant to distract from the lack of AI stuff? They said the word Siri two times in that entire 90-minute keynote. Apple’s AI strategy seems to be about how well integrated features are rather than how good the AI is. They’re making on-device models available for developers. As for the big LLM Siri upgrade, the statement was “this work required more time and we look forward to sharing more in the coming year.” 2026. We will see.

18:03 This was a fascinating WWDC. I’m very excited to dig into these betas. Stay tuned for those videos. Thanks for watching. Catch you guys in the next one. Peace.