macOS Tahoe 26: Key features you should know about Apple PC's new software

The new macOS 26 brings a lot of improvements not just with the new Liquid Glass user interface but also value-added features to enhance the user experience on Mac computers.

Apple on June 9 offered a sneak peek at the new software macOS Tahoe 26 at the Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC) 2025, Cupertino, California.

It brings a lot of improvements not just with the user interface but also value-added features to enhance the user experience on Mac computers.

macOS Tahoe 26: Key new feature coming with the latest software for Mac PCs

All-new Liquid Glass UI: Taking inspiration from visionOS, Apple is calling it Liquid Glass UI. As the name suggests, it has a glass-like translucent UI, which promises to create a lively experience and make iPhone usage more enjoyable.

The new UI design extends to all aspects of software from the smallest elements users interact with every day — such as buttons, switches, sliders, text, and media controls — to larger elements, including tab bars and sidebars for moving through apps. It also extends to the Lock Screen, Home Screen, notifications, Control Center, and more.

Liquid Glass UI on Mac computer.

Improvements to Continuity app: The new macOS 26 brings Phone app to the Mac devices. With the Continuity feature, users can instantly make phone calls. It will also have favourites, recent calls and voicemails — in addition to call screening feature and Hold Assist. The latter allows users to keep their spot in line while they wait for a live agent. In the meantime, users can continue working on the Mac.

Live Activities from a user’s nearby iPhone will now appear in the menu bar on their Mac so the device owner can stay on top of things happening in real-time, such as an upcoming cab ride, flight status, or live sports score via iPhone screen mirroring.

macOS 26 brings improvements to Spotlight feature on Mac computers.

Spotlight gets universal search: Once updated to the macOS 26, users can find search results — including files, folders, events, apps, messages, and more — listed together and ranked intelligently based on relevance to the keywords typed by the user.

New features of macOS 26.

Journal app: With the new macOS 26, Journal app makes its debut on Mac devices for the first time. With this, users can write about everyday moments and special events using photos, videos, audio recordings, places, your state of mind, and more. Journalling day-to-day life is known to improve mental wellness.

The rest of the features (listed below) of macOS 26 are similar to iOS 26 and iPadOS 26.

The new macOS 26 brings improvements to Apple Intelligence features for Mac computer.

Apple Intelligence-powered Live translation comes to Messages, FaceTime and Phone apps: It will work on-device and doesn’t need a connection to the cloud server to process the live translation. Initially, it will support up to nine languages including English (US & UK), Spanish, German, Chinese, French, Italian, Korean and more.

Improvements to Genmoji and Image Playground: Both the apps, which churn out custom emojis and photos with text descriptions, will soon allow users to mix two emojis to create new genmojis. It same with Image Playground too, users will be able to create more personalised images in several styles including painting, cartoon and real-life images with rich colours.

Apple Games: The new application will be the one-stop destination for users to find all the new games and also be able to resume the gameplay right where they stopped the previous time.

Update to Apple Music app: The iPadOS 26 brings lyrics translation and lyrics pronunciation features to the Music app, which can assist users while playing karaoke.

List of Mac computers eligible for macOS 26:

The new macOS 26 is coming to MacBook Air with Apple silicon (2020 and newer versions), MacBook Pro with Apple silicon (2020 and newer versions), MacBook Pro (16‑inch, 2019), MacBook Pro (13‑inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports), iMac (2020 and newer versions), Mac mini (2020 and newer versions), Mac Studio (2022 and newer versions), and Mac Pro (2019 and newer versions).

The macOS Tahoe will be the last major release that will support Intel-based Macs. Apple noted that Intel-based Macs, supported in macOS Tahoe, will continue to receive security updates for 3 years.

The new macOS 26 beta is available for testing exclusive to registered developers.

Next month, Apple will be rolling out macOS 26 beta for public testers.

Later in the year around September, Apple will release the final macOS 26 version as free update to all eligible Mac devices.

Apple has urged developers to complete any remaining migration work for their apps to make the transition on new Macs with Apple silicon.

Rosetta was designed to make the transition to Apple silicon easier. Apple has plans to make it available for the macOS 27 version, as a general-purpose tool for Intel apps to help developers complete the migration of their apps.

Also, the Rosetta will remain functional even after 2026, as Apple plans to support older unmaintained gaming titles, that rely on Intel-based frameworks.

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