Apple changed the Finder icon, and my day is ruined

Some things just aren't done. You wouldn't see Apple changing its logo, or renaming the iPhone, or jumping from iOS 18 to iOS 26. But it seems not everything is sacred to the company – not even the Finder icon.

As developers get to grips with the beta version of macOS Tahoe, they've spotted that Apple has done something inexplicable. Not only has it applied the new Liquid Glass texture to the Finder icon, but it's also swapped around the iconic blue and white colours, breaking decades of icon design history.

Ever since 1996, the smiling Finder icon has featured a blue left side, and a light blue, then later grey, right side. As per Wikipedia, the 'Happy Mac' "draws inspiration from the design of the Compact Macintosh series and from the Batman character Two-Face. The logo also shares some similarities to the faces of the 1934 painting Deux personnages (Two Characters) by Pablo Picasso and to the Bauhaus emblem."

Apple's reasons for changing the icon aren't clear, but the reaction from users is, with countless social media posts calling for the update to be reversed, as well as suggestions for alternate design routes Apple could have taken.

Indeed, the entire Liquid Glass aesthetic has raised eyebrows since its unveiling on Monday, with countless jokes about its resemblance to Windows Vista. As with all things beta, Apple has time to reverse course on the Finder logo – and for tradition's sake, we hope it does. Still, at least iPadOS 26 looks good.