Apple has released updated design kits for Figma and Sketch, providing developers and designers with current UI components for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. These resources include refined "Liquid Glass" design elements, improved component resizing, and expanded support for dark mode across macOS, according to the official Apple Design Resources portal.
What is included in the latest Apple design kits?
The updated kits reflect the interface changes introduced in Apple’s 2024 software lineup. According to the Apple developer documentation, the kits provide a comprehensive library of UI components, including:
- Liquid Glass refinement: Updated visual styles for standard interface elements to match the current aesthetic of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia.
- Renamed components: Library items have been renamed to align more closely with the actual class names used in Xcode and SwiftUI, reducing the friction between prototyping and implementation.
- Enhanced state support: Improved handling of interactive states, such as hover, active, and disabled, across buttons, toggles, and sliders.
- Improved resizing: Updated constraints and auto-layout settings in Figma to ensure components behave predictably when scaled.
- Expanded Dark Mode: Enhanced support for macOS Dark Mode, ensuring consistent color tokens and material rendering.
Why these updates matter for developers
Design kits act as a bridge between high-fidelity mockups and functional code. By aligning Figma and Sketch assets with the Human Interface Guidelines, Apple aims to help teams reduce development time. When a designer uses a component from the official kit, it ensures the resulting app will adhere to system standards for spacing, typography, and color—elements that are often difficult to replicate manually.
This update addresses a common pain point for product teams: the "translation gap." Previously, naming conventions in design files often diverged from the underlying SwiftUI framework. By synchronizing these names, Apple is attempting to streamline the handoff process from design to engineering.
Comparison of design resource accessibility
Apple’s approach to design tooling differs from competitors like Google or Microsoft in its focus on proprietary integration.
| Feature | Apple Design Kits | Google Material Design |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Platform | Figma / Sketch | Figma |
| Code Alignment | High (SwiftUI focus) | High (Compose focus) |
| Customization | Controlled / System-standard | Highly flexible / Themed |
While Google’s Material Design 3 kits emphasize a highly modular "Material Theme" that allows for deep brand customization, Apple’s kits prioritize strict adherence to system-wide visual consistency. Developers working within the Apple ecosystem generally use these kits to ensure their apps feel "native," whereas Material Design kits are often used to build cross-platform interfaces that maintain a consistent brand identity across Android, Web, and iOS.
How to access the new resources
Designers and developers can download the updated kits directly from the Apple Design Resources page. The files are provided in .fig format for Figma and as templates for Sketch. Users should ensure they have the latest versions of these design applications installed to maintain compatibility with the updated auto-layout and variable features included in the new kits.
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