Apple’s Liquid Glass obtained me dreaming of a future iPhone mini

Liquid Glass is all about bringing extra consideration to your content material whereas giving the interface a extra dynamic and customized vibe. It is a part of Apple’s broader effort to develop the glass-like floor design utilized in visionOS (for the Imaginative and prescient Professional) throughout extra gadgets like iPhones, iPads and Macs.

Video credit score – Apple

And in accordance to Apple’s Craig Federighi, the rationale Apple appears so into this design is as a result of it offers the phantasm that interface components aren’t taking over as a lot house.
And that obtained me considering – if Liquid Glass is all about profiting from restricted house, might this open the door for smaller display telephones once more?

Nonetheless not over the iPhone mini? Similar right here

Now, let’s be sincere – all of us have our cellphone preferences. Mine has at all times been clear: the iPhone 13 mini. It isn’t in regards to the specs or flashy options. It’s the dimension. It simply feels proper. Sufficiently small to make use of with one hand, straightforward to hold round and it would not really feel like I am holding a pill to my face.Apple first gave us the mini with the iPhone 12 lineup, then adopted it up with the iPhone 13 mini – and sadly, that was the tip of the street. No mini after that. I have been utilizing mine for 4 years now, and truthfully, I do not really feel like upgrading only for an even bigger display I by no means requested for. And I do know I am not the one one who feels that method. However clearly, we weren’t the bulk, and the gross sales numbers did not assist our case.

So, Apple moved on. The mini obtained changed by the Plus mannequin – which, by the best way, won’t stick round both. Rumor has it that Apple’s planning to launch an excellent skinny iPhone 17 Air as a substitute. Smooth and all, however once more, not precisely compact.

However let’s get again to the thought of this text, lets? What I discover actually attention-grabbing is how this new iOS 26 design appears to play proper into the thought of getting extra out of much less house. It would not simply slap a layer of UI on high of every thing – it type of blends in, lets the content material shine via and makes every thing really feel extra open and breathable.

That’s particularly helpful on smaller screens. Conventional UI components like buttons, nav bars and menus normally block a part of your content material. However with the clear and blurry Liquid Glass type, the content material beneath nonetheless reveals via. The consequence? Much less muddle, extra room to breathe.

Now, I do know some components already really feel tougher to learn with the brand new translucent styling, and yeah, that raises an actual query – if it is difficult on common screens, how’s Apple going to make it work on one thing even smaller? However to be honest, the present beta is fairly buggy, so it’s attainable the readability points are simply early-build issues and Apple will repair that.

Apple says builders ought to use this within the navigation layer – that house the place tabs and menus float above your content material. Meaning even third-party apps might begin adopting this new look, which might assist lower down on visible muddle and make every thing really feel extra open.

And that might make a giant distinction. Whether or not you might be gaming, watching movies or simply typing out a message, these translucent layers might hold the expertise from feeling cramped. Assume navigation bars, keyboards, menus – all letting your content material peek via as a substitute of blocking it fully.

Apple needs to present us the phantasm that interface components aren’t taking over as a lot house. | Picture credit score – Apple

Inform me that would not work completely on a compact cellphone. It feels just like the sort of design that might convey small screens again into the dialog – if not instantly, possibly someday after Apple will get the entire iPhone 17 Air factor out of its system. As a result of let’s be actual, the Air would possibly find yourself following the identical path because the mini and the Plus: liked by some, ignored by most.

And certain, not everybody’s asking for a tiny cellphone – however not everybody needs an enormous one both. Smaller screens nonetheless have actual perks: simpler one-handed use, higher portability, fewer distractions and so they make nice companion gadgets if you’re already utilizing a Mac or iPad.

However is there truly an opportunity?

Possibly. Liquid Glass would possibly simply be the start of an even bigger shift in how iPhones feel and look – and that shift might hit in 2027. That is when Apple is rumored to drop a serious redesign to mark 20 years for the reason that unique iPhone.Internally, it is reportedly codenamed “Glasswing” (yeah, just like the butterfly with see-through wings) and the thought is a tool with curved glass wrapping round all sides, tremendous skinny bezels and no notches or cutouts anyplace.

Now, will it’s smaller than what we’ve got now? Exhausting to say this early, but when Apple’s actually pushing the entire clear, borderless, content-first design – then shrinking issues down would not appear out of the query.

I imply, that’s the place Liquid Glass might come into play. The way in which it makes the UI fade into the background and offers extra room for content material to face out? It sort of cheats the sensation of an even bigger display with out truly needing one. So, even when this rumored iPhone sticks with a normal show dimension, the general expertise would possibly really feel much less cramped and extra immersive.