iOS 15 will be released with the iPhone 13 series later this year. Until then, we won't hear much about what direction Apple is taking with the latest version of its mobile OS until WWDC 2021 this summer.

But leaks like this one will happen: icons for Apple Music for Artists and App Store Connect. The biggest change is the addition of depth.

These icons don't necessarily show the entire software design language of iOS 15, but they certainly give us a glimpse of what to expect; Apple seems to be focusing on depth, reflecting some changes they made at Big Sur.

In particular, the new App Store Connect icon looks reminiscent of all things 3D from the 2000s, with the icon seemingly etched into the background; the Apple Music for Artists icon appears to be less emphasized, while the previous icon, the notes definitely stand out from the background, whereas in the previous icon they appeared to be part of the background.

These new icons, discovered by Reddit user DimVI (via TheNextWeb), follow somewhat what is known as the nuemorphic style. From the looks of it, nuemorphism in graphic design emphasizes depth in otherwise flat elements. Apple does not necessarily embrace this design philosophy, but the influence is there.

Both icons now have a white background with an accent color border. Some speculate that the white background means that the icons will be darker when iOS's dark mode is enabled. If true, that would be a cool touch.

As noted above, these two icons are not necessarily indicative of the overall design language of iOS 15. While Apple believes that a fresh design language should be introduced with iOS 15 (Google has done it with Android 12), no one but Apple knows what the future holds.

That said, it is odd that these icons only stand out on their own. As Apple prepares for the release and beta of iOS 15 this summer, expect to see more iOS icons undergo such changes in the coming months.