Apple has officially unveiled macOS Tahoe 26, the next major update to macOS, featuring a completely refreshed design and enhanced capabilities to boost productivity and creativity. The update introduces a sleek aesthetic built with Liquid Glass, a translucent material that brings refined visual depth to the Dock, menu bar, and app interfaces. Users can now personalise their Mac like never before with new options for folder colours, app icons, and widget tints.

A major highlight of macOS Tahoe is the improved Continuity features. The Phone app makes its debut on Mac, mirroring its iPhone counterpart with access to Recents, Voicemails, Contacts, Call Screening, and Hold Assist. Live Activities from a user’s nearby iPhone can now be displayed in the Mac’s menu bar, enabling real-time updates on events such as flights or ride arrivals.

Spotlight receives its most significant overhaul ever. Users can now perform hundreds of actions directly from Spotlight, including sending emails, creating notes, or launching apps. Search results are presented more intuitively, with filtering options and intelligent ranking. A new browse view allows users to explore files, apps, and clipboard history, and developers can now integrate app-specific actions into Spotlight through the App Intents API.

Apple Intelligence becomes even more deeply integrated in macOS Tahoe. Features like Live Translation enable seamless communication across languages in Messages, FaceTime, and Phone. Genmoji and Image Playground receive upgrades, offering more personalisation options and new artistic styles powered by ChatGPT. Shortcuts become more intelligent, supporting complex automations and contextual suggestions, with tasks run either on-device or through Private Cloud Compute for privacy.

Productivity is further enhanced with smarter Reminders that can summarise content from emails, websites, and notes.

The new Apple Games app gives gamers a central hub for their titles, while Game Overlay allows in-game access to system settings and friend interactions. Developers can leverage Metal 4 for improved graphics, supporting titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Crimson Desert, and more.

Additional updates include a redesigned Safari with a floating tab design and refreshed sidebar, new features in Messages like Backgrounds and Polls, the Journal app coming to Mac, and visual upgrades to Photos. FaceTime now includes Contact Posters and floating controls, while Notes gains markdown support and audio transcription capabilities.

Accessibility features expand with Magnifier via Continuity Camera, Accessibility Reader for improved text legibility, and advanced Braille Access. Passwords app now tracks changes and offers improved password management.

macOS Tahoe is available for developer testing starting today and will roll out as a free update this fall.