I haven’t been excited a few macOS replace in a very long time, however with macOS Tahoe 26, we’re lastly getting a big overhaul. Between the visible redesign and a few thrilling professional options, there’s one thing for everybody to check out in macOS Tahoe 26, together with one characteristic that Mac nerds will love. Now that the general public beta is out, I put in and examined a few of the new options myself.
Be sure you try the total rundown of all the pieces Apple introduced in June at WWDC 2025.
Up to date July 2025: We have added particulars in regards to the public beta.
Is Your Mac Appropriate With MacOS Tahoe?
If it is from the previous few years, sure. All of the Apple Silicon Macs, together with the M1 fashions from 2020, are suitable with Tahoe. Nonetheless, with macOS Tahoe 26, Apple introduced that it could be the final replace for some Intel-powered Macs.
The ultimate supported Intel-based Macs that may obtain macOS Tahoe embrace the next fashions: MacBook Professional (16-inch, 2019), MacBook Professional (13-inch, 2020, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports), iMac (27-inch, 2020), and Mac Professional (2019). So, when you have a kind of, you are good to go. You will not be capable of check out any of the Apple Intelligence options, as they’re nonetheless restricted to solely Apple Silicon.
When Will MacOS Tahoe Come Out?
{Photograph}: Luke Larsen
MacOS Tahoe was introduced at WWDC 2025 and is scheduled to launch this fall. The timing of this could range, however someday in September or October is a protected guess. Till then, there is a public beta that launched on July 24, supplying you with a preview of all the brand new options. As ordinary with beta software program, you may need to again up your machine first.
Tips on how to Set up the MacOS Tahoe Public Beta
If you wish to check out the general public beta for macOS Tahoe, observe these steps:
- Head over to the official Apple Beta Program web site.
- Click on “Join,” and you will be requested to enter your Apple Account.
- If you have not already, you may be directed to vary your settings to permit for beta software program updates.
- When you’re carried out, simply choose the Tahoe replace and begin putting in.
Though it’s a must to bounce by just a few hoops to get it put in, the replace acts kind of like a typical macOS replace. Remember to again up your Mac first.
Liquid Glass
{Photograph}: Luke Larsen
It has been some time since we have had an excellent Apple design controversy. Liquid Glass is the most recent trigger for outrage, and Apple’s conscious of it this time. The “visible motif,” as Apple calls it, is the first change on this 12 months’s updates to the corporate’s working programs, and it is already come below some intense scrutiny because the announcement.
Transparency is nothing new; in truth, there was already loads of it in macOS. However Tahoe turns up the transparency to a different degree, in a method that makes it really feel decidedly daring. The present “flat” design of macOS first rolled out again in 2014 with Yosemite, which had an anti-button method to menus, as an alternative favoring easy textual content and shapes within the consumer interface. With Liquid Glass, the tides have turned once more, bringing again buttons to assist objects stand out from the very low opacity of menus and interfaces. These buttons and descriptions are all highlighted by the glass-like borders, which give it a slight 3D impact. That half I like.
The very best demonstration of that is within the Menu Bar and Management Heart. Management Heart was already a little bit of a multitude, so I recognize the brand new, less complicated look, which swaps out the layers of segmentation right into a sequence of round buttons. And sure, the transparency could be very notable, relying closely on the frosted glass impact to keep up any form of legibility. The whole Menu Bar throughout the highest now disappears completely, which is what Apple is referring to when it says it makes the display screen really feel greater. I’ve to agree there, as long as you could have a comparatively easy wallpaper that does not obscure the textual content. The widgets have the identical impact, although curiously, after I modified the wallpaper, it crammed within the background and eliminated the transparency. It is a crucial concession.
{Photograph}: Luke Larsen
When you use a Mac day-after-day like I do, although, lots of the smaller adjustments are what give it its distinctly recent feeling. The icons are what you may discover first, which is correct the place the controversy begins. The long-lasting (heh) Finder icon has, certainly, been tampered with—although they have not been flipped like within the unique idea. The colours are barely totally different, although, and there is a good, fashionable border round it to match the opposite icons.
The nook radius on almost all the pieces from buttons to home windows has enlarged, giving all the pieces a stronger cohesion and sense of unity. It will take some getting used to in Finder, however I like how the redesigned Safari appears with its floating search bar on the high.
All in all, the aesthetic adjustments to macOS have not had fairly as massive an affect as on iOS, the place Liquid Glass has proved to be a bit extra problematic already, a lot in order that Apple has already begun experimenting with dialing it again. There’ll inevitably be areas the place Apple might have to enhance visibility, however I feel the implementation in macOS Tahoe is comparatively benign.
Courtesy of Apple
There are just a few smaller design adjustments, similar to the flexibility to vary the colour of folders or add an emoji to them. Management Heart, situated up high within the Menu Bar, has additionally been made fully clear. Extra importantly, Apple has added tons extra customization so you possibly can add extra fast settings to vary. You’ll be able to even add particular settings in generally used apps similar to Zoom.
MacOS Tahoe additionally brings over a design tweak that got here to iPhones final 12 months: tint for icons, which applies a unified look to all of your icons without delay. Actually, I am stunned this got here to macOS, as a result of it wasn’t effectively obtained by reviewers. The setting for this may be discovered below Look in System Settings, and giving it a strive myself, it did not change my thoughts. It is as cheesy because it was on iOS.
Main Highlight Replace
That is the characteristic I have been most excited to check out because it was introduced, and admittedly, there’s loads to it. The Highlight search device has at all times been considered one of my favourite options in macOS, and I have been ready for Apple to take it to the subsequent degree. In Tahoe, it borrows from the favored Mac app, Alfred, however goes above and past by way of integration. It is smarter on nearly each degree, rapidly providing up apps, paperwork, and even your clipboard historical past. I can already inform how rather more helpful it should be, even in simply my brief time utilizing it to this point. Clipboard historical past must be probably the most sensible use case to this point, even when it is not fairly as full-featured as Alfred.
Highlight may even now carry out system actions and in-app actions, similar to enjoying a podcast or beginning a recording. You’ll be able to even fill out parameters similar to who you are sending an electronic mail to—once more, proper in Highlight! I will be the primary to confess that I nonetheless have to discover what I’d rely upon this for. However I can really feel the potential.
However wait, there’s extra. There are even Fast Keys you should utilize to hurry issues up additional. Sort “sm” to ship a message or “ar” to create a reminder. Assume next-level key instructions with these. You’ll be able to arrange your individual Fast Keys, too, actually increasing the capabilities and customization. For instance, you possibly can arrange Fast Keys to take actions inside an app that you just’re utilizing, letting you rapidly arrange a job all from the keyboard. It is for the Mac nerds on the market who already know each different key command, and I am unable to wait to strive it out.
Curiously, as a part of the emphasis on Highlight, Apple has changed Launchpad with a brand new Apps shortcut within the dock. It is a change I like. Launchpad was a full-screen takeover, which felt a bit overcooked. That is why I usually discovered myself utilizing Highlight to open apps rather more usually. Based mostly on this alteration in macOS Tahoe, I am guessing I am not the one one.
AI-Powered Shortcuts
Shortcuts generally is a actually highly effective method of automating duties in your Mac. With MacOS Tahoe, these get upgraded by Apple Intelligence, letting you arrange shortcuts like summarizing textual content or producing photos. You’ll be able to even faucet into ChatGPT (or the on-device Neural Engine) if crucial, establishing chains of actions that might doubtlessly be extraordinarily helpful. For instance, you would possibly create a Shortcut that compares notes from textual content in Notes from a lecture to an audio transcription, after which summarizes the variations utilizing Apple Intelligence.