Other than the lack of color in the app icon, I like a lot about this. IT IS LITERALLY LIQUID AND GLASS.
Category: Design
Turns Out, Apple Maps Totally Knows About Smooth Pyramids
After my recent post about how Apple Maps butchers the Great American Pyramid, several readers sent in images of other pyramids Apple has rendered properly. One in particular is quite painful to see — Luxor Las Vegas.
Here is the hotel in satellite view, and then in Apple’s 3D rendered view:
It seems that Apple does have the technology to make smooth pyramids!
Apple’s Dimensional Drawings⇢
This is one of my favorite pages across Apple’s various websites. I mean, just look at this drawing of the iPhone 17 Pro:
iPhone Sizes, Sketched⇢
Kate Matthews has an on-going project that I just love:
I’ve been sketching size comparisons for the new iPhone models since 2017, so in 2026 I’m celebrating ten years of iPhone size sketches!
This is just a sample of what awaits you:
iPhone Duo Developer Videos⇢
If you have an iPhone, you’ll want to check these out.
Thankfully, there’s some time between now and when the iPhone Duo ships next month.
Golden Gate Beta 6 Turns Stoplights into Liquid Glass
Developer Beta 6 of the 27 OSes is out today, and the macOS build has something I didn’t really expect this late in the game: redesigned window controls!
Like before, hovering over the “stoplight” controls with the cursor reveals the close, minimize, and junk drawer that has become the former maximize button.
Tahoe is on the left; Golden Gate Beta 6 is on the right:
(Trying to line up screenshots between a MacBook Neo and a MacBook Pro using a Pro Display XDR was …fun. Click the image to enlarge it.)
WWDC26: A Look at macOS Golden Gate’s App Icons⇢
One of the first things I noticed after installing the macOS Golden Gate beta was the updated icon design. The colours are much bolder, several icons have been adjusted, and the refraction in the Liquid Glass effect has changed significantly, especially in icons like Journal.
There’s also a noticeable sharpness to the icons, along with a flattening of the Liquid Glass effect. I’m not sure yet whether this is simply an early-beta artifact or the intended final look. For example, while I really like the redesigned Finder icon, the sharp black edges around the nose currently feel a little unrefined.
WWDC26: macOS 27 Golden Gate’s Default Wallpaper
Every year, the new version of macOS ships with at least one new default wallpaper. macOS 27 Golden Gate continues that tradition.
I like this wallpaper; it has some Mac OS 9 vibes.
The Ferrari Luce⇢
Ferrari has unveiled its new four-door EV, designed by Jony Ive. It’s a quad-motor monster, clocking in at 1,035 horsepower, a mere 757 more than my used Toyota Tacoma.
I like some things about the exterior design, even if the profile has huge Magic Mouse energy. There are little nods to Ferraris past in the design, but there’s no doubt its a big change from its predecessors. Even the interior is wildly new. This car has seen a lot of hate online, but I don’t think it is as bad as most folks do, it seems.
Hide macOS Tahoe’s Menu Icons With This One Simple Trick⇢
I really dislike Apple’s choice to clutter macOS Tahoe’s menus with icons. It makes menus hard to scan, and a bunch of the icons Apple has chosen make no sense and are inconsistent between system applications.
Steve Troughton-Smith is my hero for finding a Terminal command to disable them:
Here’s one for the icons-in-menus haters on macOS Tahoe:
defaults write -g NSMenuEnableActionImages -bool NOIt even preserves the couple of instances you do want icons, like for window zoom/resize.
3D Print Your Own Lil Finder
After a week of tinkering with design files and babysitting my 3D printer, I have an adorable new coworker. The final print took 20 hours, but I’m enamored with the results:
I was thrilled to collaborate with Basic Apple Guy on bringing Lil Finder to life. We both hope the Mac community enjoys this project.
If you want to print your own, I’ve uploaded a .3mf file here.
I ran mine on my Bambu P2S, with some fuzzy skin to give the final version a softer finish. On my example, the bright blue is Bambu’s Cyan PLA; the darker color is Overture’s Gray Blue PLA+. You may need to do some adjusting to get things dialed in for your setup.
Unlock Mac-Specific Accent Colors⇢
Accents is an app that lets you use the iMac/MacBook Neo accent colors on any Mac.
This is really clever. The iMac and MacBook Neo come with custom accent colors that are only available on those machines. Thanks to Michael Tsai for linking to this little gem of a macOS app.
