I’ve been utilizing macOS Tahoe 26 since June and listed below are the most effective eight issues about it

Apple’s new model of macOS, Tahoe 26, launches immediately for all suitable Macs. I’ve already shared many emotions about Liquid Glass in my have a look at the developer and public betas, and my opinion on the brand new, polarizing UI stays lukewarm. However after utilizing Tahoe by way of the beta intervals to full launch, I can confidently say that there are some first rate enhancements to macOS value diving additional into.

The up to date Highlight: energy consumer lite

Command + Spacebar was all the time a useful shortcut for calling up Highlight and launching an app with simply the keyboard. Now, you are able to do far more with it, and if you happen to practice up the muscle reminiscence it may very well be some of the useful new options of macOS Tahoe. You possibly can really feel a bit energy user-y with out being overwhelmed by one million controls and choices present in third-party apps like Raycast.

When summoning Highlight in Tahoe, you’ve easy accessibility to purposes, current information, customizable / actionable shortcuts, and a clipboard historical past by way of simply the keyboard (you possibly can click on stuff too, however bouncing between keyboard and mouse slows you down). Along with leaping between these 4 features with Command and numbers one by way of 4, you possibly can rotate between them separately with the arrow keys. This offers you a extra useful graphical information, as a result of it exhibits the 4 icons as you navigate as an alternative of getting to recollect which quantity key corresponds to every operate. In any other case, the icons are hidden and require hovering your mouse over the Highlight search bar to see them bubble out — all liquid-like. Cute animation, Apple, however it’d be higher to not tuck away these icons.

Clipboard historical past is oh-so-handy

One of many new Highlight features is one among my favourite options of Tahoe. A clipboard historical past is extremely helpful for almost anybody. I’m certain we’ve all had moments the place we copied textual content or a hyperlink and forgot to stick it earlier than copying one thing else. Clipboard historical past helps with that by quickly storing as much as eight hours of copied textual content, information, and even screenshots (together with screenshots ones didn’t save to a file). It makes these gadgets straightforward to repeat once more and paste, and it additionally helps in conditions the place you’ve a number of fields to repeat over in batches.

The one draw back of a clipboard historical past are the slight safety and privateness dangers if you happen to use a shared laptop and accounts. It may reveal delicate info or gossip to others in your family — that’s, if you happen to copied something incriminating they usually know entry the clipboard historical past. (Apple maintains an eight-hour time restrict on the clipboard historical past and doesn’t put copied passwords into it, but when it’s copied from plain textual content, then it’s truthful recreation.)

A Telephone app: handy entry to calls

I preserve that Tahoe’s full-blown Telephone app is one among its extra helpful options, particularly if you happen to sometimes must make a tedious name throughout your nine-to-five. Gotta name an insurance coverage firm, physician’s workplace, customer support line, or financial institution that places you in a tiresome queue? Name them when you work on different stuff. Doing it along with your telephone subsequent to you on speaker accomplishes the identical factor, however it additionally means preserving your telephone and a plethora of different distractions close to you. I’ve discovered that having all of it baked into your laptop is only a tiny bit extra useful at preserving me on-task by way of this multitasking velocity bump.

The Messages app will get backgrounds and polls

Apple’s Messages app now gives customizable polls which you could survey your mates with and the flexibility to alter the backgrounds of your conversations, the latter of which is often discovered on different chat apps. Apple’s preset backgrounds have a bit animation flourish, which is enjoyable, however they shortly settle right into a static picture. Many of the presets are simply colourful abstractions or fairly scenes taken from the pure world, like clouds, water, and auroras, however you may as well simply set a customized photograph or use Picture Playground for one thing AI-generated (although it often appears ugly).

Dwell Translations of calls and messages

macOS Tahoe has a couple of methods it could do on-device dwell translations: it could translate textual content chats within the Messages app, show translated captions in FaceTime video calls, and translate a telephone name dwell with each textual content transcriptions and an automatic voice. Presently it solely helps voice translations in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish, whereas textual content translations embrace all of these plus Japanese, Korean, Italian, and simplified Chinese language.

I examined the dwell translator within the Telephone app throughout a name with my mother whereas she spoke Spanish, which is one among three languages she speaks (4, if you happen to depend correct Italian and her regional Italian dialect individually). It was serviceable, however it’d be robust to have a full dialog by way of it. Each contributors should get a really feel for the cadence of the automated translator, ideally going a bit slowly and permitting gaps for it to talk round you within the different language. This isn’t as superior as Google’s new translator on the Pixel 10 telephones, the place it deepfakes your voice with AI, however it’s a satisfactory first try for Apple Intelligence. Simply remember that the same old hangups and stumbling round translating slang or any mid-sentence language switching are very current.

Safari’s entire new look

The Safari redesign is without doubt one of the higher infusions of Liquid Glass. The general rounded-edge aesthetic is a superb change. And I dig how the highest navigation bar color-matches websites you go to. However the coloration matching could be very delicate, and most websites I go to simply result in it being black, white, or some degree of off-white. I assume that’s an enchancment over Safari’s earlier default all-gray look? It is likely to be extra enjoyable for you if websites you frequent have wider splashes of coloration that get picked up.

As for Safari’s new glassy transparency, it’s fairly neat. As you scroll down, the contents of an internet site tuck below the frosted prime navigation bar, darkening and blurring till they exit of body. It’s a delicate impact that’s straightforward to disregard, which is probably for the most effective so it doesn’t get too distracting.

The clear Menu Bar: extra wallpaper area

I’ve come round on the brand new Menu Bar, although I’m glad anybody who dislikes its new clear look can return to filling it in with a background. It’s a type of issues the place, now that I’ve adjusted to it, I don’t need to return.
However the most effective a part of the brand new Menu Bar is how straightforward it’s so as to add clickable buttons and drop-down menu shortcuts by way of the brand new Controls Gallery now. You’ve all the time been ready so as to add a number of issues to a Mac’s Menu Bar, however you now have one neat and orderly place to pick them from. So as to add them, you click on Edit Controls within the Command Middle, which opens the Controls Gallery and permits you to drag and drop them in. It’s the identical course of as it’s so as to add extra toggles to Command Middle, however the distinction between the 2 is that I really use the macOS Menu Bar — Command Middle, not a lot.

Enjoyable and colourful folder customization

I like the flexibility to alter the precise coloration of folders, as an alternative of simply including a coloured dot subsequent to their names. (Although, you possibly can nonetheless do this if you happen to want.) You’re restricted to only seven folder colours, although, and may’t add your personal. The brand new capacity so as to add a useful or foolish emoji to the folder icon can also be enjoyable. Apple additionally permits you to select from a whole lot of minimal, monotone grey emojis to emblazen on a folder, however sadly you possibly can’t search by way of them. The one technique to key phrase seek for an emoji is to make use of a conventional, full-color emoji, which may kill the streamlined look.

Probably the most meh elements of Tahoe

Tahoe’s lengthy and windy path

Whereas Tahoe’s new look is prone to be polarizing, it has some first rate new options. The replace has been very secure for me, even from the early days of the developer beta (apart from the Video games app performing bizarre — however, actually, who cares). Although if you happen to’re uncertain the way you’ll take to the glassy UI life or in case your day-to-day work depends on a Mac, then it doesn’t harm to attend a bit to replace.

There’ll inevitably be updates that hammer out potential glitches or bugs, and I wouldn’t be stunned if Apple retains cooking on Liquid Glass with some little visible tweaks because it did in the course of the betas. However I assume it’s only a matter of time earlier than we’re all glassified.