It is rare to see Apple fumble when it comes to UI & branding like this
When Apple's new unified look was "realistic glassy reflectivity and depth" it seemed to me they were switching to a trade dress/branding style couldn't be protected... everyone was going to copy it, and could do so given the genericness
Now it's worse: everyone else gets to use really impressive, eye catching glassy effects while Apple is toning their new effect way down for usability (thankfully)
They really misstepped here. And they're kind of stuck with the watered-down version of the thing they pushed into the spotlight
When Apple's new unified look was "realistic glassy reflectivity and depth" it seemed to me they were switching to a trade dress/branding style couldn't be protected... everyone was going to copy it, and could do so given the genericness
Now it's worse: everyone else gets to use really impressive, eye catching glassy effects while Apple is toning their new effect way down for usability (thankfully)
They really misstepped here. And they're kind of stuck with the watered-down version of the thing they pushed into the spotlight