iOS 7 to feature significant re-design


While rumours of the iPhone 5S start to pick up pace, a new rumour claims that iOS 7 will represent a far bigger overhaul for Apple.


Over at Daring Fireball John Gruber has become known for having his finger on Apple's pulse, and he's claiming that iOS 7 will feature a "rather significant system-wide UI overhaul."


As for the specific nature of this overhaul, Gruber has little to say but that he's heard the same as journalist Rene Ritchie, who recently said that “Ive’s work is apparently making many people really happy, but will also apparently make rich-texture-loving designers sad.”


So radical is this design overhaul that apparently Apple has had to draw employees away from working on OS X 10.9 (the next version of the Mac operating system) to work on iOS 7. Yep, that also means that development is running behind schedule, and we could see a delay in the new iPhone and iPad OS's release date.


The Jony Ive Effect

Apple's hardware design supremo Jony Ive took responsibility for the company's UI work late last year, so a complete revamp of Apple's increasingly dated OS is perhaps unsurprising.


It appears Ive is also working hard to prevent the kind of leaks that have become the norm at Apple in recent years. According to the report, Apple employees who have the right to take iOS 7 out and about are being supplied with polarising filters, which ensure that you can only see the screen from dead on.


Whatever Apple's brewing in there, expect it to be quite different from the iOS you've grown accustomed to since 2007.


Does the prospect of an all-new iOS scare or excite you? Let us know in the comments section below, or take to the Trusted Reviews Twitter and Facebook feeds to have your say.