<p>This is an interesting little elaboration of skeuomorphic design in Apple's iOS. There's two basic parts to it. The first, that Apple's hardware and software designs seem to have gone in very different directions. The second, that maybe Retina displays are going to change this. I would proffer a different reason for any move away from skeuomorphic design though. Quite simply the old folk are dying off.</p><p>It's curious how Apple's hardware and software have taken such divergent paths. Looking at iOS hardware and software separately, one might think they were produced by different companies. The drop-shadows and textures of iOS stand in sharp contrast to the clean lines and invisible seams of Apple's hardware. Comparing major models of either the iPhone or iPad line, Jony Ive's industrial design team seems to be on the march, creating devices that feel ever more like they're carved from a single block of magical stone. So why is it that Apple would ship these devices with software featuring deep shadows and visible stitching?</p><p>Yes, that's entirely true.</p><p>The trend away from skeuomorphic special effects in UI design is the beginning of the retina-resolution design era. Our designs no longer need to accommodate for crude pixels. Glossy/glassy surfaces, heavy-handed transparency, glaring drop shadows, embossed text, textured material surfaces these hallmarks of modern UI graphic design style are (almost) never used in good print graphic design.</p><p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/01/20/will-apple-dump-skeuomorphics-in-ios/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.todaysiphone.com/2013/01/5-things-id-like-to-see-in-ios-7/">5 things I&#039;d like to see in iOS 7</a> (Today's iPhone)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=d1K331pMGnx4v4MY2i2xMWKjiiejM&ned=us">2 additional articles.</a></p>