It’s not just visual, though Big Sur also features major updates to key UI elements like notifications and control center as well as changes to core apps like Messages and Safari. That’s a little bit of a stretch, as 2014’s macOS Yosemite brought major design influences from iOS to the Mac, but Big Sur’s changes are nonetheless dramatic and significant. Big Sur is different from Apple’s usual annual macOS upgrades: the company calls it the “biggest design update” since Mac OS X arrived way back in 2001.
