Apple's infamous iPhone optical illusion is no more

WWDC 2025
(Image credit: Apple)

While it might be the overdue arrival of Siri AI that's hogged the headlines after Apple's WWDC conference this week, fans have been picking up on design tweaks made to the polarising liquid glass aesthetic introduced in last year's iOS 26.

One of the most controversial UI touches was what appeared to be wonky homescreen icons. Although this was ultimately proven to be an optical illusion caused by the new software's motion settings, it was apparent enough to leave several users complaining of feeling "drunk". But with the advent of iOS 27, it seems Apple has decided it's time to sober up.

As reported by Gizmodo's Raymond Wong, one of the loudest voices of the Drunkgate scandal (yeah, I'm calling it that), the first developer beta of iOS 27 has seen the specular highlights removed, so the icons no longer appear to slant to the left.

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Daniel John
Design Editor

Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles. He has interviewed leaders and designers at brands including Apple, Microsoft and Adobe. Daniel's debut book of short stories and poems was published in 2018, and his comedy newsletter is a Substack Bestseller.

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