Sometime in the near future, Apple is going to launch the next major update to its desktop operating system. With macOS 12 Monterey, the company is welcoming plenty of changes to the software. Including some tweaks to the user interface and overall aesthetic. And that will apparently be the case for the iWork app icons as well.
As noted today by MacRumors, Apple is making some changes to the app icons associated with its suite of apps under the iWork umbrella. Apple will be tweaking the design of the app icons for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. These aren’t massive changes by any means, and Apple is leaning more towards inspiration from iOS than anything else here. But the publication was able to discover the new app icons within the framework of the latest beta of macOS Monterey, showing the new changes ahead of the public launch.
Not that we have all that much longer to wait before the wide launch of the upcoming software update. Apple is launching macOS 12 Monterey to the public this fall. Which, if the past is any indicator, will probably be before the end of September. You can see the new app icons just below.
The images are small because of where they were discovered, and what they will be used for. According to the publication, these app icons are what will be shown when sharing in other apps, like iMessage. It’s interesting that Apple still hasn’t decided to give these app icons a universal look across macOS and iOS yet, instead opting to still make them different from one another. Maybe that’s just part of the whole, “We’re not combining iOS and macOS” and really leaning into the idea.
In any event, the new app icons show off an overall flat design, and adopt the solid color backgrounds like we see on iOS. But that’s where the specific similarities end. For instance, the Pages app icon here in macOS 12 Monterey offers a more realistic looking pen, rather than the Apple Pencil-styled icon that’s present in iOS. It’s a vast change compared to the current Pages app icon found in macOS Big Sur, though. That app icon still has the ruled paper in the background.
Here’s a look at the current macOS Big Sur iWork app icons, just in case it’s been a while since you’ve looked at them:
Next, the Numbers app icon in macOS Monterey looks similar to what’s present in iOS right now, with its white graph bars. There are some subtle shadows to the app icon. Again, this is a departure from what’s present in the current public version of macOS, with the Numbers app icon showing off multi-colored bars and graph paper in the background. Finally, the Keynote app icon tweaks the graph on the stand itself, but the background is different compared to the macOS Big Sur app icon.
While Apple is obviously inspired by the iOS app icons, it’s not quite the same. Still, it’s better than the current difference between the app icons between desktop and mobile, at least.
What do you think of the new app icons?