What is Solarium? Everything we know about Apple's biggest UI overhaul in a decade

If the rumors are true, Apple is working on its biggest visual overhaul to its mobile operating system since iOS 7 — which famously ditched skeuomorphic features in favor of flat design. It reportedly plans to update the look of icons, menus and windows, system buttons, and even apps. But that’s not all: The company wants to extend this overhaul to all its devices. 

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According to Bloomberg, Apple wants a more consistent appearance across its operating systems  — from the iPhone to Vision Pro — and it will use WWDC 2025 to reveal this big update that’s currently being called Solarium. 

What is Solarium?

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman first reported in March that iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and MacOS 16 will receive new designs, including more translucency for a glass-like appearance. Now, in May, he’s claiming the codename for this major redesign is known internally at Apple as Solarium. It’s meant to conjure thoughts of bright, glass-walled rooms full of sunlight. 

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This leaked codename is seen as evidence that the company wants a translucent, modern look. Gurman also said Solarium is expected to touch every corner of Apple’s software ecosystem — not just the iPhone, iPad, and Mac — and it will be its biggest UI revamp in over a decade. There aren’t many details just yet, but the changes will “go well beyond a new design language and aesthetic tweaks.”

How Solarium might change things

At its core, Solarium seems to be about lightness and translucency — and it’ll be applied across all of Apple’s hardware. There hasn’t been a lot of information to come out so far, but reading between the lines, one can make some educated guesses about what to expect. Here are four ways I think Solarium might change things, based on what’s been revealed to date. 

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I touch on these changes in more detail later in this guide, where I explain which Apple devices are expected to get Solarium. 

1. Bright, translucent features: Software menus in all of Apple’s devices could feature lighter, frosted, and more glass-like effects.
2. Floating controls: Rather than using typical flat toolbars, many UI elements — contextual buttons, action sheets, even widgets — could appear to hover over the content you’re viewing, creating a sense of spatial depth even on 2D screens.
3. Rounder icons: You might see smoother, squircle icons on your devices, like you currently do on the Apple Vision Pro home view.

4. Consistent navigation: Expect unified layouts and standardized menus. For example, no matter which device you’re using, tapping a “share” or “settings” icon could look and behave nearly identically.

Where you’ll see Solarium

Solarium should be a coast-to-coast refresh of Apple’s software lineup. 

iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and MacOS

Apple’s upcoming operating systems don’t often leak, but leaker Jon Prosser claimed he had access to a build of iOS 19 in April. According to Prosser, the iPhone and iPad are expected to adopt more glassy, frosted-translucent panels and rounder, squircle-style icons. Menus and controls might “float” over background content, much like in VisionOS. 

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In fact, Solarium is reportedly “loosely based” on the Vision Pro interface, which features round app icons, a lot of translucency, a simple navigation system, and plenty of 3D elements. Solarium will also supposedly be the biggest update to MacOS since Big Sur. It’s again rumored to bring translucency features, including to the Mac’s toolbars, sidebars, system icons, and windows. 

Gurman said in April that iPadOS 19 will also make iPads more like Macs via better multitasking, productivity, and window management. Leaker Majin Bu even claimed iPadOS 19 will show a MacOS-like menu bar when an iPad connects to a Magic Keyboard.

Apple’s goal? Consistent UI elements, regardless of whether you’re on an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook.

WatchOS 12 and TVOS 19

After years of very little visual change on Apple TV, TVOS 19 will reportedly receive an interface overhaul to align it more closely with other platforms. That could mean glass-like backdrops behind app tiles and updated navigation bars. Likewise, WatchOS 12 is tipped to adopt new UI changes, which could mean sleeker watch views and more legible typography.  

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There haven’t been any details or leaks to show how exactly these two operating systems will benefit from Solarium, but in his Power On newsletter, Gurman confirmed Solarium’s design changes will extend to the Apple TV and Apple Watch.

VisionOS 3

Finally, even Apple’s spatial-computing software won’t be left untouched. VisionOS 3 is expected to get Solarium, perhaps tweaking its floating-window system and iconography so that Apple’s headset and other devices share the same visual language.

Expected release date for Solarium

Apple has an annual update cadence for software: announce in June, betas over the summer, ship publicly around September. 

Also: I finally tried Samsung’s XR headset, and it beats my Apple Vision Pro in meaningful ways

The Solarium UI will likely be previewed at WWDC’s keynote on Monday, June 9, 2025, at 10 a.m. PT, followed by developer and public betas through July and August. Final releases of iOS 19, iPadOS 19, MacOS 16, TVOS 19, and WatchOS 12 are then expected to roll out alongside new Apple hardware in September 2025.

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