WITH APPLE CREATOR STUDIO, ARE MAC ICONS GETTING WORSE?

Summary from the TLDR Design newsletter

Apple's increasingly minimal Mac icons, especially the new Apple Creator Studio set, are being widely criticized as confusing and meaningless, with many arguing they've lost clarity as they moved from skeuomorphism to abstraction. The author disagrees, saying icons rarely make sense without prior knowledge anyway, and that what really matters is visual distinctiveness—something the new, colorful ACS icons do well while also looking more aesthetically pleasing.