Liquid Glass meltdown as memes roast Apple for AI flops, stale tech

Apple's 'Liquid Glass' was meant to be the showstopper at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), but it was panned by netizens as the company's new design interface language failed to impress.

What was touted to be a marvel in software aesthetics quickly spiralled into a meme fest on social media. A user on microblogging platform X termed it “iOS for toddlers”, while another asked whether the new UI “was designed on Microsoft Paint”. The event itself generated mixed reactions owing to underwhelmed expectations, particularly over significant artificial intelligence (AI) advancements.

The new interface that functions similarly to glass in the real world was being dubbed as the biggest visual overhaul to Apple's operating systems in over a decade. However, what immediately became a major talking point was the practical concerns about readability and accessibility.


"I'm a bit concerned with readability," American YouTuber and influencer Marques Brownlee wrote on X.

The readability concern was one that resonated with people, especially with white text against light or varied backgrounds in notifications and other UI elements.

Oppenheimer’s Martin Yang wrote of “significant potential degradation of readability due to the see-through design”, citing “early user feedback”.

The Liquid Glass' colour changes automatically between light and dark surroundings based on the material around it. It is now available for developers to test and finetune their apps ahead of its official release later this year. The aim is to bring a unified, modern and highly interactive and aesthetic interface across all its platforms.

Many critics and social media users also began drawing parallels between Liquid Glass and Microsoft's Aero Glass design from Windows Vista, which was known for its translucent elements. While they spoke of how Apple's implementation is likely more refined, the comparison raked up conversations surrounding a perceived lack of originality.

Melius Research analysts said it "looks very nice but isn't exactly the kind of stuff that drives the 'buy orders' on the trading desk".

WWDC is Apple's annual event used to represent the cutting edge with software engineers, but analysts said it has lost its pre-eminence lately owing to underwhelmed expectations, particularly regarding significant AI advancements.

At a time when there's ground-breaking work being done with AI and the likes of OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and Meta putting their might behind advancements in the space, many analysts and tech enthusiasts expressed disappointment over the lack of significant AI innovations. In fact, the Apple stock dropped 1.2% to close at $201.51 on Monday.

Be it CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino who called the event "a dud" in terms of AI or Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who said in a post on LinkedIn that it showed “slow and steady improvements” but was “overall a yawner", the internet was rife with opinions.

“Has there actually been an exciting WWDC in the last decade? Where is the innovation? This feels like what ChatGPT thinks people want from Apple,” X user @MikeYelovich wrote in a post.

To be sure, analysts had widely expected this year’s event to be underwhelming, with minor software improvements. Barclays said it was not expecting much, but was still “slightly disappointed” at the content and features announced.

"We view changes to all device Operating Systems and Apple Intelligence as incremental, and not enough to drive any upgrade cycles," the brokerage was quoted as saying in a note.

Morgan Stanley said the sentiment is unlikely to shift "until more tangible AI progress is evident", though it added that the Cupertino-based firm clearly still has the ingredients to make it an AI winner.

Another aspect that put a dampener on investor sentiment was that the company admitted it needs more time to complete its long-delayed overhaul of the Siri voice assistant which some said showed Apple is struggling to meet investor demands for innovation in AI.

Bob O'Donnell, president and chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research, wrote in an opinion piece that it is critical both strategically and economically for Apple to start creating meaningful AI features.