Apple’s New Glass UI: Looks So Good It Might Outpace Crysis

At WWDC 2025, Apple unveiled its boldest visual overhaul in years: a translucent, depth-heavy interface dubbed “Liquid Glass.” Now rolling out across macOS Sequoia and iOS 18, this new design takes cues from layered textures, frosted panes, and organic gradients — all aimed at creating a more immersive digital experience.
Apple’s new glass aesthetic certainly looks stunning, but it comes with a real hardware cost. Inspired by the elegance of physical materials, this shift is as much about art as it is about GPU cycles.
But here’s the kicker: your Mac might now be working harder rendering Finder windows than NASA did guiding astronauts to the Moon.
🧠 The Comparison: Glass vs. Doom, Crysis & Apollo
System / App | Year | Use Case | Memory / GPU Requirement |
Apollo Guidance | 1969 | Manned Moon Mission | 64 KB RAM, no GPU |
Doom (PC) | 1993 | FPS Game | 4 MB RAM, no GPU |
Crysis (PC) | 2007 | Ultra-realistic PC Game | 1–2 GB GPU, 2 GB RAM |
macOS Sonoma (UI only) | 2023 | File Explorer Blur Effects | 500–800 MB VRAM, 10–20% GPU load on M1 Macs |
📊 Suggested Graph 1: GPU Usage Comparison
Peak GPU Usage During Idle / UI Interaction
System | Peak GPU Usage |
Apollo (est.) | 0% |
Doom | ~1–2% (modern) |
Crysis (2007, Ultra) | ~95% |
macOS Sonoma (Finder + Blur) | ~15–20% |
Caption: macOS’s UI can stress GPUs nearly as much as some 3D games when multiple windows are open.
📊 Suggested Graph 2: VRAM Consumption (UI-only)
VRAM Usage
macOS Sonoma Desktop + Control Center: ~500–800 MB VRAM
Chrome Tab (idle): ~150 MB
Doom (Full Game): < 20 MB
Crysis (Ultra Settings): 1–2 GB
🧪 Technical Notes
Transparency & Blur Effects require offloaded GPU compute.
Apple uses Metal API to accelerate rendering.
No toggle to disable transparency fully in the latest macOS/iOS.
On MacBook Air (M1), users report temperature spikes and battery dips when several glass-heavy windows are open.
🧠 Final Take
It’s 2025, and your Mac might be using more power to render a translucent sidebar than it would to run Doom 100 times over or land a man on the Moon.
Maybe Apple should add a “Retro Mode” — flat, fast, and Moon-approved.
💡 Bonus: Social Caption
Apple’s new glass UI: so pretty your Mac sweats like it’s running Crysis. Meanwhile, Doom still fits in a fridge. #TechSatire #macOS #Crysis #Doom #Apple
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