macOS Tahoe 26 brings overhauled Spotlight, Shortcuts and Live Activities

While its name might sound like a full-sized American SUV, macOS Tahoe 26 is actually named after Lake Tahoe, which sits right at the edge between California and Nevada. The update brings the new Liquid Glass design language we saw across the rest of Apple’s new software portfolio. Some key features introduced with iOS 26, like Call Screening, Hold Assist, and Live Translation, are coming to macOS.

Liquid Glass brings added depth, a transparent menu bar and Control Center as the most notable visual changes. Apple expanded the Control Center toggles and also added theme colors so you can make your desktop more unified. You can also select new folder colors and add emojis to them.

Apple is bringing the Phone app to Macs, though it requires an active iPhone to work. You can take and receive calls and access your favorite contacts.

Live Activities will now reside in the menu bar so you can check on food orders or ride-hailing requests, though like the Phone app, this feature works via Continuity from an iPhone.

Spotlight gets one of its biggest updates ever. Users can now complete any tasks like sending emails, creating notes or launching Shortcuts all without opening any other apps. You can even use Spotlight to perform actions that are available inside its menu bar. Spotlight results are now listed and ranked based on relevance to the user.

Shortcuts are also getting overhauled and can now be executed at predetermined times or from specific actions.

Safari gets a visual overhaul in line with the new Liquid Glass design alongside improvements to loading speeds and battery life. Apple’s Journal app is now available on Mac.

The new Apple Games app is also here and brings a game overlay with controls for sound, brightness, paired controller and battery level. Apple is also bringing Metal 4 with Frame MetalFX, Frame Interpolation, and MetalFX Denoising. Users will also see a growing catalogue of games with more big titles coming soon.

macOS Tahoe 26 is available in developer beta today. The public beta is coming next month, while the official release will drop this fall.

macOS Tahoe 26 is compatible with all Apple Silicon Macs as well as a few models using Intel chips like the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro (4 Thunderbolt ports), the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro (4 Thunderbolt ports), the 2020 27-inch iMac and the 2019 Mac Pro.