It’s finally arriving, but don’t panic. You’ve had plenty of time to steel yourself. After 15 years of loyal service, Microsoft Office 365’s default font is no longer Calibri. Instead, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel users on TikTok are noticing (or will soon enough) their trusted sans-serif typeface is officially swapped for a brash upstart known as Aptos.
The change-of-the-guard began rolling out late last year through Beta and “other preview channels.” Because such updates are often staggered, however, The Verge notes many users are only recently seeing the new font default—Microsoft only created its official Aptos documentation on January 19. While originally confirmed a little over six months ago, company plans for a replacement font actually began as far back as 2021.
Such decisions aren’t arbitrary. In fact, there’s a pretty succinct reason as to why Calibri became yesterday’s font: It’s all about resolution.
It’s no coincidence that Calibri first replaced Times New Roman within Office 2007, right about the time of Apple’s iPhone debut. Back then, OLED—much less Retina, LED, or any other high-definition displays—weren’t a widespread thing. On top of lower resolutions, most computer screens (at least desktops) still measured 1024×768 or 1280×800. Still, times needed changing—Times New Roman, more specifically.
[Related: Why the State Department is the new ambassador for the Calibri font.]
After serving its purpose for years, Microsoft swapped the iconically 1990’s default for a newly designing, then-modernized font Calibri. Fast forward through roughly another decade-and-a-half of digital improvements and screen resolution advancements, and the company decided it was time to start finding its newest Font-in-Chief.
In April 2021, Microsoft’s design department announced the search was on for its next default typeface, one that could hold its own against in a world of 4K, ultra-HD, and…
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