Apple’s Liquid Glass Design Was Hinted at in Wallpapers All Along

Apple has probably scattered ‘hidden’ references to the new liquid glass design for over a year. If you look at the wallpapers of products from the past twelve months, the hints cannot be overlooked.

Hidden clues over months

Apple has presented its liquid glass design at WWDC 2025, which works with a new translucent material that reflects and breaks its surroundings. This redesign represents the greatest visual update of iOS since the transition from the original Sekeuomorphic design to a flat design style in iOS 7.

The new design extends via iOS 26, IPADOS 26, MacOS TAHOE 26, WATCHOS 26 and TVOS 26 to create a uniform design language across all platforms. The liquid glass aesthetics should not only be visually appealing, but also improve functionality by directing the focus more on content.

Wallpaper as harbing

Like user Workaholicdavid on X Now Apple has seemed to have given subtle information about the new design language for over a year. The clues are hidden in the wallpapers of important product publications of the past twelve months, with which Apple seems to systematically announce the upcoming look. At the M4 iPad Pro, Apple created a dark wallpaper for applying the new OLED display, which with its bladder-like, reflective colors already reflects the liquid glass aesthetics.

With swirling lines and the lively color spectrum, this wallpaper demonstrated the ability of the display to present deep black tones and pure white tones. The organic shapes and the way of light through the surfaces shown are already a direct foretaste of the upcoming design system.

iPhone 16 Pro as a design teaser

The iPhone 16 Pro models also received wallpapers, which are strongly reminiscent of Liquid Glass thanks to their different circular objects interacting with light. The wallpapers are available in Desert Titanium, Natural Titanium, White Titanium and Black Titanium. Each color variant shows the aspects of the liquid glass surface. The ranges from subtle reflections to clear refraction.

The wallpaper of the iPhone 16E also shows a glass -like bladder against a background with light reflexes. This representation is particularly meaningful because it demonstrates the dynamic nature of the new interface element. Because a central feature of the liquid glass design is the optical change in the elements depending on the context and interaction.

Vision for the future

Of course, nobody could know in advance about the introduction of the new design language. In addition, it can be argued whether Apple has really given subtle information about the large UI change, or whether it is only a coincidence. However, this seems rather unlikely that design decisions are made in large companies long before consumers learn about it.

Apple also has a history when it comes to references to future functions and designs. The official invitations for keynotes with their artwork and title usually reveal something about upcoming innovations at the latest.