Over at WWDC 2025, Apple, in bringing its entire software portfolio in line, announced macOS Tahoe 26. Like everything else, the operating system will update widgets and the Dock Icon with the all-new Liquid Glass, among other features.
“The gorgeous new design enhances the Mac experience in new ways while maintaining the familiarity of macOS. It is crafted with Liquid Glass, a translucent new material that reflects and refracts its surroundings. The Dock, sidebars, and toolbars have been refined, bringing greater focus to a user’s content. The menu bar is now completely transparent, making the display feel even larger. There are more ways to customise what controls appear in the menu bar and Control Centre, along with how they’re laid out. The new design also unlocks more personalisation on the Mac. App icons come to life in light or dark appearances, colourful new light and dark tints, as well as an elegant new clear look. Users can also change the colours of folders and add a symbol or emoji to give them a unique identity. And when combined with personalised wallpapers and theme colours, it’s easier than ever to make Mac a seamless extension of a user’s style.”
Other improvements to macOS Tahoe 26 include Continuity, allowing people invested in the Apple ecosystem to use the Phone app directly on their Mac system. This includes familiar features, such as Recents, Favourites, and Voicemails, as well as Call Screening and Hold Assist.
Spotlight is also getting a facelift of sorts. Searching with the program, all results – including files, folders, events, apps, messages, and more — are now listed together and ranked intelligently based on relevance to the user. Apple says that users will also be able to execute hundreds of actions directly from it.
Apple Intelligence is also getting a boost across the board with macOS Tahoe 26. Live Translation now automatically translates messages, while Shortcuts are also able to tap into the AI models, while Genmoji and Image Playground. Oh, and Reminders can be categorised into sections to make them more manageable.
The Apple Games app on macOS Tahoe 26 is also getting a new look ala Liquid Glass as well, along with a new Overlay. Additionally, Tahoe is introducing the new Metal 4 API, allowing game developers to apply advanced graphics and next-generation rendering technologies in-game. Apple says that these improvements will be coming to titles such as Crimson Desert and InZOI. Do note that these ray tracing and performance enhancements are best handled by Mac devices powered by Apple’s M3 and M4 chipsets.
All the new features of macOS Tahoe 26 will are already available for testing via the Apple Developer Program, while a public beta will be made available next month. As for the full release, the fruit company says it will be available sometime this fall, which is more or less during the third quarter of this year.
(Source: Apple)
