iMessage could see small changes for iOS 19
A mockup shared by a leaker with a poor track record allegedly depicts iMessage in iOS 19 with a redesigned keyboard and circular buttons, but not much else.
Jon Prosser has had a rough couple of years after some incredibly wrong leaks, but he’s attempting a comeback. It seems he’s willing to stake what’s left of his reputation as a leaker on two 2025 releases — iOS 19 and iPhone 17.
The iMessage mockup was shared by Prosser during a Genius Bar podcast. In the episode, Prosser also says that a video featuring iOS 19 leaks was inbound in the coming days, so stay tuned for that.
Several elements make this screenshot appear to be more of a mockup than screenshot. Prosser tends to have his render artists, currently Asher Dipprey, make new mockups based on actual leaks to protect sources.
The iMessage chat itself is likely just a screenshot of a conversation between Dipprey and Prosser, though the timestamps suggest this mockup may have existed since at least February 18. Also, it appears that the FaceTime button was added after the fact, since it lacks any transparency to the photo underneath.
The FaceTime button and back button have a reflective ring around them, and the edge of the keyboard has a similar reflective border. One could assume that light moves slightly when the iPhone is tilted.
These elements stand out as the “redesigned” portions of iMessage, though there are other tweaks. More on those in a moment.
Prosser shows the mockup at the 43 minute mark.
First, Apple Vision Pro does have rounded buttons that feature a light bouncing off of one edge — especially in the keyboard. However, the effects are much more subtle than what is shown here.
Buttons that stand up in a 3D effect from the UI tend to have shadow gradients under them, and the FaceTime and back button on visionOS iMessage are not 3D. Since the virtual keyboard is its own window, it gets its own outer edge chrome, but even that isn’t represented correctly in this mockup.
So, if this is a redesign meant to unify operating systems, Apple would need to change parts of visionOS as well. This does not make it closer to visionOS in nearly any respect.
The keyboard in visionOS is distinct from the suggested redesigns in the mockup
According to how the current keyboard works, it seems there are a few oddities with how the mockup was put together. They clearly wanted it to say “Front Page Tech” in the text suggestion, and left the first button highlighted as if the user was pressing on it.
There is no active cursor in the iMessage text field, but one could assume that it is mid-blink, though the Shift key would be highlighted if auto-capitalization was on. Also, the return key is a dark blue for no apparent reason.
It seems highly unlikely that Apple would have such a low-contrast color scheme, even in a dark mode keyboard. The edge of the text suggestion box also doesn’t align with the edge of the keyboard properly.
Also, the new glyphs for the emoji and microphone seem like another odd choice. The current ones are filled in and easier to see, especially on phones with smaller keys.
Note also that backspace and shift are inexplicably no longer keys.
There’s a lot of oddities with this mockup. Image source: Genius Bar Podcast
There is a chance that Prosser saw a real screenshot of the new iMessage app and other elements of iOS 19, but this mockup is an odd one. Perhaps it feels unfinished because it is.
There are likely many prototypes and mockups on various apps that go through Apple’s development team before landing on a final version. Prosser’s original iOS 19 camera interface leak appeared in January, which could mean the version he has is very early.
It has been suggested previously that Apple finalizes operating system updates in December, then spends the next six months getting to developer beta 1.
Prosser mentioned in the podcast that he’s heard through the grapevine that engineers at Apple don’t fully understand how he has access to finished images. That they’ve only seen early concepts and not final UI.
Well, that may be because Prosser also only has access to select early sketches or mockups. His render artists are great at creating realistic representations, so perhaps they are landing close to what Apple’s developers have made with the same information.
Prosser’s earlier iOS 19 camera design leak. Image source: FPT
Looking back at Prosser’s earlier Camera app leak, there are some similarities, but odd differences too. The Camera app screenshot shows something much closer to Apple Vision Pro’s UI, but lacks the light reflections on button edges.
He also mentioned in the podcast that the overall “redesign” was limited and people expecting something like iOS 7 in scale will be disappointed. The Home Screen is allegedly basically untouched — though the thumbnail for the episode shows a silly mockup with round icons.
Prosser seems to be doubling down on his information this time. It’s a great time to try and re-enter the Apple leaks game as major OS redesigns and flashy camera bars are expected.
However, if this ends up being like the colorful MacBook Air redesign rumors, the iPhone 14 retro redesign rumors, or the flat-sides Apple Watch rumors — there will likely be backlash. That said, Prosser will land on his feet thanks to his excellent topical videos on Apple.
Given the WWDC 2025 announcement Tuesday, I expect there will be some new design elements across every operating system. Small tweaks like the ones shown in Prosser’s mockup are possible, though, as with any render or mockup, the real deal will likely be better executed.
