Checked r/unixporn and it's the same minimalist-low-contrast-muted-color-tiling-wm-but-floating-windows-opened-fest that has always been. Majority of those environments are appealing but lack usability and accessibility. Rather, what you find better in macOS? If you're macOS user then the uncanny quality could just be it appearing similar yet different.
Fair point about usability; we're only looking at screenshots of these systems. The screenshots at least meet the bar of a professional mockup, even if the whole experience is vaporware.
I'm not really sure what I find better. That's why the difference is uncanny. A graphic designer could probably pinpoint it.
Maybe it's wasted space? Or the gray in GNOME? It looks like no one knew how big or what color to make things, and just sort of hedged.
I don't think my bias is with macOS since I've also used Windows up until 7 and never found that uncanny. It's just a different aesthetic.
