The iPhone X, which was introduced in 2017. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
When Apple Inc. launched the original iPhone nearly two decades ago, the concept behind the software interface was fairly straightforward: mimicking the real world.
That design ethos, known as skeuomorphism, meant the Notes app looked like an old school yellow notepad and the Maps software resembled the paper versions you may have kept in your car before GPS devices. Over time, Apple took this idea further. It made its Game Center app look like a blackjack table, complete with green felt, and its Podcasts interface was a tape recorder from the 1960s...
