A tiny detail in Apple's new software is driving designers round the bend
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Credit: Linus Ekenstam via X
While the fanfare of Apple's WWDC announcements are always exciting, there's something to be said for the subsequent days, which fans and designers alike invariably spend poring over every pixel of the new iPhone, iPad and Mac software. While 2025's splashy (and glassy) redesign has turned heads , it's the little things that tend to get people truly riled up – and nothing triggers designers more than corner radiuses.
As well as introducing a new transparent design language, iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and MacOS Tahoe 26 feature much rounder corners. This is particularly apparent on the Mac software, with its many windows. And for some, the whole thing just looks... off.
A screenshot by Linus Ekenstam highlighting inconsistent border radiuses in macOS Tahoe | Credit: Linus Ekenstam via X
The ratio of inner and outer curved corner radiuses has been the subject of much theorising and debate for years, and by now it's pretty commonly accepted that simply using the same ratio results in an unsightly bump, as the below illustration explains.
But it seems Apple's new rounded corners are not only strangely matched to the edges of it displays, but there appears to be little logic to corners across the entire operating systems. The beta release of macOS Tahoe in particular is a chaotic playground of inconsistent corner radiuses that most users might not notice, but designers are definitely triggered by.
It's not just the inconsistency of the borders that's hurting designers' feelings, but the overall increased roundness is, some feel , coming across "like the UI is made for kids". Of course, these are only the first beta versions, so Apple has plenty of time to make fixes. But combine this with that new Finder icon and the polarising transparent design language, and it's clear that Apple is trying to "think different" with its software design in 2025. It'll be interesting to see which bold choices it clings to over the coming months, and which get walked back, or at the very least finessed.
