When Apple introduced Creator Studio, a suite of its professional creative tools, the company from Cupertino also redesigned the icons of all applications. It was not a small color change or a slight refresh, but completely new symbols and visual solutions that at first glance do not create a clear connection with the old icons.
Apple did not remove the old icons. These are now used to distinguish the one-time paid versions of the apps from the Creator Studio versions, which work through a subscription. The difference exists because a Mac user can have both versions of the same application at the same time.
Apple icons no longer clearly state what they represent
The new Creator Studio icons are so different that Apple has published a separate support document called “Identify Apple Creator Studio apps on your Mac”. It shows all the apps from the Creator Studio suite, along with the new icons for the preloaded versions and the old icons for the one-time purchased apps. For users of Apple Pro apps, that guide might become something worth saving.
The whole situation is reminiscent of a wider design change in the macOS Tahoe system. Apple wants the Mac icons to look more like those of the iOS system, so now they are all placed in the same rounded square. The problem is that such an approach to applications takes away some of the originality and creates a uniform but impersonal look.
A good example is MainStage. The new icon looks abstract and uses the Liquid Glass effect, but it no longer has the energy of the old icon with the guitarist under the spotlight. The old version immediately said it was an app for music content, while the new version asks for an explanation.
The Mac has long been recognizable by the fact that developers were able to give applications a unique visual identity. Now the Dock looks more and more like a series of similar rounded squares, where the differences are harder to notice. It is not only an aesthetic problem, but also a usability problem.
If the icons need an official guide, then the design clearly doesn’t communicate clearly enough. Apple could therefore consider in the macOS 27 system whether uniformity is really more important than recognition, writes Macworld.