Apple recently unveiled macOS 26 Tahoe during the opening presentation of WWDC 2025, introducing a range of new graphics and features for the Mac operating system.
Liquid Glass Design
One of the standout features of macOS 26 Tahoe is the introduction of the Liquid Glass design. This new aesthetic mirrors the design principles of iOS, creating a unified and streamlined experience across devices. The Liquid Glass effect emulates a translucent material that interacts with its environment, utilizing graphic effects and animations that enhance usability while preserving familiarity for existing users.
Key interface elements such as the Dock, sidebars, and toolbars have been refined to better emphasize user content. The menu bar is now entirely transparent, granting users the ability to customize which controls appear in the menu bar and Control Center, as well as how they are organized.
Additionally, app icons have received a redesign, shifting between light and dark modes with new colorful tints for each theme. Users can also personalize folder colors and add symbols or emojis for greater recognition.
Continuity and Phone App Integration
macOS 26 Tahoe extends the Continuity feature by bringing the Phone app to Mac. This allows users to receive calls from their nearby iPhone seamlessly. The Phone app on Mac is equipped with similar features to the iPhone app, including functionalities like Recents, Favorites, and Voicemail. Notable updates include Call Screening and Waiting Assistance.
The Call Screening feature automatically answers calls from unknown numbers, prompting the caller for information to assist users in deciding whether to answer. Meanwhile, the Waiting Assistance feature enables users to remain on hold with a caller while continuing to work, optimizing their time.
Spotlight Enhancements
The Spotlight feature has undergone significant enhancements, improving the process of finding various items on a Mac. Results, including files, folders, events, apps, and messages, are now intelligently grouped and sorted based on relevance.
Users can utilize new filters to narrow searches specifically to PDFs or emails. If a search yields no results, Spotlight offers explorable views to scroll through files, apps, and notes. Now, all apps, including those from iPhone, are accessible in Spotlight due to mirroring capabilities.
Moreover, Spotlight enables users to carry out a wide range of actions, such as sending emails, creating notes, or playing podcasts, without the need to switch between different applications. This feature applies to both native and third-party apps integrated through the App Intents API. Spotlight can also learn from user habits and offer personalized suggestions for frequently performed actions, further enhancing the user experience.
New Apple Intelligence Features
Apple has introduced several innovative features focused on enhancing communication and interaction. In the Messages app, users can now utilize real-time translation, allowing messages to be automatically translated into the recipient’s preferred language as they are typed and sent. This feature applies to replies as well. In FaceTime, real-time subtitles have been added, enabling users to view transcriptions during calls. Additionally, words can be translated in real-time during phone conversations. These advancements are powered by on-device models, ensuring the privacy of personal communications.
Apple’s new Smart Actions enhance the Shortcuts app, providing users with the ability to create more complex automations, such as text summarization and image generation. Users can integrate both Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT models to generate responses within Shortcuts, which can be triggered automatically based on specific times or events.
The Tahoe update brings exciting new creative tools, such as Genmoji, allowing users to create personalized emojis by starting from existing ones or descriptions. Users can edit personal characteristics or accessories and select expressions that fit various contexts. The Image Playground feature introduces more styles, including oil painting and vector art, in collaboration with ChatGPT.
Live Activities on Mac
With the latest update, real-time activities from a nearby iPhone can now be displayed in the Mac menu bar. This feature helps users stay updated on various timely matters, such as upcoming Uber rides, flight information, or live sports scores. By clicking on an activity’s details, users can mirror the corresponding app on their Mac for more information and interaction.
The New Games App
A new Games app is now available for Mac, serving as a central hub for discovering favorite and new games, as well as playing with friends. The app features a Game Overlay, which allows gamers to adjust settings, chat, or invite friends to join a session without interrupting their gameplay.
macOS Tahoe introduces Metal 4, enabling developers to create games with advanced graphics by leveraging next-generation rendering technologies, such as MetalFX Frame Interpolation and MetalFX Denoising, resulting in smoother images and higher frame rates.
Updates for Safari, Photos, and Other Native Apps
macOS 26 brings significant improvements to various native applications, including:
- Safari: Features a redesigned interface with a new sidebar for easier access to saved content.
- Messages: Introduces dynamic backgrounds, polls, and a revamped detail view for better content organization within conversations.
- Photos: Offers a new design with an improved sidebar, enhanced customization options like new filters, and the ability to adjust preview sizes alongside Featured Collections.
- Notes: Users can now import and export notes in markdown format and record conversations in the Phone app as audio, complete with transcripts.
Accessibility Improvements
Mac users will benefit from new accessibility features, including a Magnifier that utilizes the iPhone camera to zoom in on objects or text, with filters to enhance readability. A new Accessibility Reader will also be available across the operating system, focusing on maximizing accessibility in macOS.
macOS 26 Tahoe is currently available in developer beta and is expected to be released to the general public sometime in 2026.