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Need-To-Knows
- Developer Beta released June 2025, Public Beta July 2025 and full release September 2025
- New Liquid Glass design language brings a translucent motif to macOS Tahoe
- Spotlight gets the biggest update with new capabilities to perform actions as well as search
Apple has officially unveiled macOS 26, known as macOS Tahoe 26, named after the famous Lake Tahoe in California. Like all the other Apple operating systems, macOS’ numbering system has been revised to feature the year following its release to unify the naming system.
And, like all the other operating systems, macOS Tahoe will bring Apple’s new UI refresh, ‘Liquid Glass,’ to the Mac. That means icons and menus will appear slightly translucent and will do things like refract light in a 3D effect. But there are some more meaty updates when you look deeper. Let’s get into it!
macOS Tahoe Features At A Glance
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Liquid Glass Design | Redesigned UI with frosted glass-like transparency for things like app icons and menus. |
| Custom App Icons/Folders | Tint folders different colours, personalise icons and add emoji to filing systems |
| Spotlight Quick Actions | Perform actions and app commands directly from Spotlight without having to open other apps or menus |
| Phone App | Native call controls, voicemail, and screening all from your Mac display |
| Live Activities | Real-time iOS widgets in menu bar with iPhone mirroring |
| Apple Intelligence | More AI writing tools, summaries, Genmoji upgrades, and wider ChatGPT integration |
| Live Translations | Real-time call captions and translations in the Messages app |
| Games App & Overlay | Game Center integration and in-game overlay with performance tools |
| Journal | Log entries with text, photos, audio, synced across iOS/macOS |
| Audio in Notes | Record and search voice notes within Notes |
| App Library | New categorised app launcher called ‘Applications’ replacing Launchpad |
| Accessibility Improvements | Better Magnifier, system-wide Reader, enhanced Braille note-taking support |
macOS Tahoe Release Timeline
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Developer Beta | June 2025 (WWDC) |
| Public Beta | July 2025 |
| Final Release | September/October 2025 |
1. Liquid Glass UI Overhaul
macOS Tahoe introduces a fresh new design called Liquid Glass. This is Apple’s take on a redesigned user interface that leans into aspects like transparency, softer edges, and a fluid interface. For example, things like menu bars and video controls are now translucent, with a frosted glass-like quality.
Elements in the background, like a video or wallpaper, can be seen through these elements as the UI dynamically responds to whatever is on the display. Liquid Glass is uniform across all Apple operating systems, meaning there should be more similarities to how iOS, macOS and iPadOS all look.
Related: Mark’s overview of the iPadOS 26 features
There are other tidbits, too, like the ability to turn all app icons transparent for a monochrome look.
2. Custom App Icons & Folders
Users now have the ability to tint, personalise and emoji-fy their app folders. App icons adapt dynamically to light, dark or tinted themes. Folders can now include emojis or symbols, helping to differentiate them further.
Top Tip: How to force restart a frozen Mac
3. Spotlight Gets Intelligent
One of the larger updates at WWDC was the changes to Spotlight, which is now more powerful. Classically, Spotlight has been how you find things on a Mac. You open the search bar, type in whatever you need, and it pops up. Now it’s got more actively useful.
In macOS Tahoe, users can now perform in-app actions like starting a timer, launching Shortcuts, or sending a message, without fully opening those apps. Type “send message to John” and Messages opens with your query filled in.
It gets better. Spotlight can perform more complex tasks, like removing a background from an image in a document, without downloading separately. This is a change that harnesses AI to actually make time savings and likely keeps CPU usage lower too by way of reducing the amount of app launches.
Spotlight can also now launch iPhone apps via Continuity.
4. New Phone App for Mac
A new Phone app lets you make and receive calls, read voicemails, and even screen calls (a new feature for iOS 26), all from your Mac without needing to open your phone.
Features like Hold Assist and voicemail transcription also come directly from iOS 26, but are now built into macOS. Calls are routed via your iPhone, but the controls live natively on your Mac.
5. Live Activities in the Menu Bar
Live Activities from iPhone are now in the macOS menu bar. You’ll see real-time updates for food deliveries, sports scores, ride shares and more. You can click them to open a mirrored iPhone interface on your display and view them that way, too.
Related: M4 MacBook Pro review
6. Apple Intelligence & ChatGPT Integration
Apple Intelligence (available on Apple Silicon Macs only) now offers more detailed AI-powered text generation, rewriting, and Genmoji creation. ChatGPT (GPT-4o) sees more integration in macOS Tahoe as an option in things like Genmoji, where you can now generate images in different styles.
The long-awaited update to Siri is still not here with macOS Tahoe, but there are some minor tweaks to Image Playground that allows users to combine two emojis together to create a new one.
7. Live Translations in FaceTime and Phone
Get real-time subtitles and spoken translations during calls. This feature uses on-device AI processing for privacy and works across FaceTime and Phone apps, meaning it can also be carried out on Mac devices.
8. New Games App & Game Mode Overlay
A new Games app organises your library and connects with Game Centre to more clearly collate gaming-related content across devices. A new Game Mode Overlay gives you in-game access to performance stats, screen recording, and friends, a bit like what the Nvidia app already offers.
9. Journal App Arrives on Mac
The iPhone’s Journal app is now on Mac. That means you can sync entries, log daily thoughts, attach photos and audio, and tag entries by topic or mood, just like you can on iPhone. This is another feature that marks the move from Apple to integrate devices across their product range and encourage users to use them in conjunction with one another.
Related: M4 Mac mini review
Everything in Journal on macOS Tahoe is fully searchable and synced ecosystem-wide.
10. Audio Recording in Notes
You can now record voice notes directly in the Notes app. These sit alongside text notes and are searchable with Apple’s new transcription tools.
11. App Library Replaces Launchpad
Launchpad is now gone. This was the screen overlay view that showed you popular apps with an easy place to open them. In its place comes App Library view, which is still accessible via Spotlight. Much like Launchpad, App Library categorises apps with options to launch directly from there. It also includes apps from your iPhone via Continuity.
12. Accessibility & Magnifier Updates
Improved Magnifier with cross-app zoom, a new system-wide Reader view, and better support for connected Braille displays to make macOS more inclusive.
Related: M4 MacBook Air review
13. Compatibility & Legacy Changes
macOS Tahoe is the last big update for Intel Macs, with only some T2-equipped models supported. FireWire is now unsupported and the Home app now requires the newer architecture introduced with macOS Ventura.
macOS Tahoe Compatibility Table
| Feature | Available On All Macs | Apple Silicon Only |
|---|---|---|
| Liquid Glass Design | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom App Icons/Folders | ✅ | ✅ |
| Spotlight Quick Actions | ✅ | ✅ |
| Phone App & Live Activities | ✅ | ✅ |
| Apple Intelligence Features | ❌ | ✅ |
| Live Translations | ❌ | ✅ |
| Games App & Game Overlay | ✅ | ✅ |
| Journal & Notes Audio | ✅ | ✅ |
| App Library via Spotlight | ✅ | ✅ |
| FireWire Support | ❌ | ❌ |
