Apple Unveils MacOS Tahoe 26 With Liquid Glass Design, New Continuity and Spotlight Features

Apple previewed the next version of its Mac operating system at WWDC 2025 on Monday. Set to arrive this fall, MacOS Tahoe 26 will feature Apple’s new Liquid Glass design, a couple of new Continuity features, an update to Spotlight search and the new Games app. Here’s what you need to know.

Watch this: Apple Unveils Liquid Glass, a New Design Language

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MacOS 15 Sequoia to MacOS Tahoe 26

No, you didn’t slip into a coma for a decade and miss 11 versions of MacOS between last year’s MacOS 15 and MacOS 26. Apple is unifying version numbers across its various operating systems, so everything from iOS to MacOS this year will be version 26 to carry you into 2026. 

As for the Tahoe part, MacOS 26 is not named after a Chevy truck. It continues Apple’s tradition, starting in 2013 with Mavericks, of naming its Mac operating system after a scenic area of California. 

Liquid Glass design

The Dock, sidebars, toolbars and other elements on your Mac will appear glassy and more reflective with Tahoe, but the biggest change to the look of the desktop is the disappearance of the menu bar. It’s still there but just harder to see. Like the clear water of its namesake, the menu bar is completely transparent with MacOS Tahoe 26.

MacOS Tahoe 26 also offers more ways to customize the look of your Mac, including the ability to choose a color other than light blue for folders. You can not only change the color of folders, but you can also add an icon or emoji to them.

New Continuity features

MacOS Tahoe introduces two new Continuity features. The first brings over the Phone app from the iPhone to the Mac so you can make calls and check recent ones, listen to voicemails and see all of your contacts without needing to pick up your iPhone if you are sitting in front of your Mac. The Phone app will be synced between your iPhone and Mac, and it will include the new Call Screening and Hold Assist features.

The second Continuity feature coming to your Mac is Live Activities. Whether you are tracking a flight, an Uber order or the score of a baseball game, you can view Live Activities in the menu bar with MacOS Tahoe. And you can take action in a Live Activities notification on your Mac with iPhone mirroring.

Supercharged Spotlight 

Spotlight gets a refresh and a dose of AI to help it rank search results to get you what you’re looking for faster. I’m a bit worried about it listing all of the results together and using AI to put what it thinks are the most relevant files at the top, but there are filtering tools to help you narrow the results, so maybe those will be helpful.

The bigger news with Spotlight is its ability to run Shortcuts and understand quick keys to start an action. You can, for example, enter “sm” to send message or “ar” to add reminder in Spotlight without needing to open the Messages or Reminder app.

Live Translation and Games app

A new Apple Intelligence feature will deliver live translations to text, phone or FaceTime conversations. This feature catches Apple with Microsoft’s Copilot Plus PCs, which have offered live translations for over a year now.

MacOS Tahoe will also include the new Apple Games app, which is basically an App Store for games with a Library view so you can see all the mobile games you’ve purchased or downloaded. There’s also a section dedicated to cooperative play, and the Games app also gives you a game overlay to adjust settings and chat while you play.

MacOS Tahoe 26 requirements

MacOS Tahoe 26 is available now as a developer beta. The public beta will follow in July with the final release available as a free upgrade in the fall. 

With only a few exceptions, you’ll need a Mac with an Apple M-series processor to be able to run Tahoe. Here’s the list of supported devices:

• MacBook Air with Apple silicon (2020 and later)
• MacBook Pro with Apple silicon (2020 and later)
• MacBook Pro (16‑inch, 2019)
• MacBook Pro (13‑inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• iMac (2020 and later)
• Mac mini (2020 and later)
• Mac Studio (2022 and later)
• Mac Pro (2019 and later)

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