Apple Releases macOS Tahoe 26.2 With Edge Light

[MacRumors]

Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.2, the second major update to the macOS Tahoe operating system that came out in September. macOS Tahoe 26.2 comes five weeks after Apple released macOS Tahoe 26.1.

Mac users can download the macOS Tahoe update by using the Software Update section of System Settings.

macOS Tahoe 26.2 includes Edge Light, a feature that illuminates your face with soft light when you're on a video call in a room with poor lighting. The update also adds alarms for the Reminders app, new podcast features, updated AirDrop settings, and more. Apple's release notes are below.

Edge Light
- Edge Light video effect uses the Mac display to illuminate your face like a virtual ring light when you're on a video call in low light
- Customizable light width and temperature give you control over how you're lit
- Mouse awareness ensures that the light recedes when you need to access content underneath
- Option to have the light turn on automatically in low light situations on Mac computers introduced in 2024 and later

Podcasts
- Automatically generated chapters make it easier to navigate more episodes
- Links to mentioned podcasts let you see and follow other podcasts mentioned in the episode you're listening to directly from the player and transcript

Games
- Filters in the Games library let you find games by category, size, and more
- In-game challenge score banners provide real-time updates when someone new has taken the lead
- Connected controller support

This update also includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:
- AirDrop codes offer an additional layer of verification when using AirDrop with unknown contacts by providing a code on the receiver's device that the sender must enter to complete the transfer
- Apple News Section links in the sidebar of the News app offer easy navigation to popular topics like Sports, Politics, Business, and Food
- Tables in Freeform can hold text, images, documents, and drawings, with cells that intelligently resize to fit, bringing structure to the infinite canvas
- Favorite Songs playlist appears in Top Picks in Apple Music
- Fixes an issue where pre-release albums in the library were not immediately playable at their release time

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit: support.apple.com/100100.

More information on the features in macOS Tahoe can be found in our macOS Tahoe roundup.

Article Link: Apple Releases macOS Tahoe 26.2 With Edge Light

 

[FoxyKaye]

Enough to justify transitioning away from Sequoia?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Enough to justify transitioning away from Sequoia?

Nope! Not even close.
I'm going to let others keep beta testing macOS 27 for me and think about this next Fall.

 

[TJFDenver]

Nope! Not even close.
I'm going to let others keep beta testing macOS 27 for me and think about this next Fall.

you know you want 26 ... you know you love 26 ... lets go 26!!

 

[thebitguru]

Does anyone have the build number? Is it different release candidate?

 

[gank41]

Still curious if this is the same build as the RC

 

[TriBruin]

This sucks for Enterprise. There is still a major bug with regards to FileVault. And releasing on a Friday? Going to throw my upgrade schedule out of whack and right in to the Christmas week.

 

[whoami]

26.2 - 25C56

 

[coffeeplease]

softwareupdate --list shows build number 25C56, same as RC

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Isn't this in clear violation of the adage of "NEVER release on a Friday"?

 

[BigJohno]

Nope! Not even close.
I'm going to let others keep beta testing macOS 27 for me and think about this next Fall.

Fine for me. not a fan of the overly rounded corners but that isn't enough to make me not upgrade.

 

[robd003]

Are the performance issues fixed in this release? Will a laptop last a day or is it still burning through battery?

 

[marblesbarkley]

Heads up: The edge light is not that effective—it barely, barely makes a difference with lighting.

 

[Adora]

softwareupdate --list shows build number 25C56, same as RC

Seems I have to downgrade to Sequoia. 26.2 RC is the worst macOS version (including betas) I've ever used since I started with 10.7.x.

15.7.3: https://swcdn.apple.com/content/dow...g5lor3a6i89vz7paml1xpq6w/InstallAssistant.pkg

Edit:

14.8.3: https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/11/14/093-37361-A_NX0SMZC0LI/9slwkknt5xciy7bhd9ux9utct03e07j6qp/InstallAssistant.pkg (Sorry, that was the Tahoe link)

https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/32/47/089-71265-A_6O6NMLUUUS/7eoxdv3yggl8rmaz7jicf3wmys68ptjwho/InstallAssistant.pkg

 

[neomorpheus]

Enough to justify transitioning away from Sequoia?

In the way that this fiasco is going, I think that the safe thing to do is to wait for MacOS 27.1.

Hopefully it will be called Snow Leopard 2 or Snow Leopard Jr.

 

[GodFather24TR]

The Build Number is very strange... RC 26.2 (25C56) Final is 26.2 (23C55)
The size is also very strange... 853,8 MB

 

[Adora]

I only see this with the RC installed:

% softwareupdate --list-full-installers
Finding available software
Software Update found the following full installers:
* Title: macOS Tahoe Beta, Version: 26.2, Size: 16963366KiB, Build: 25C5048a, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Tahoe, Version: 26.1, Size: 16890687KiB, Build: 25B78, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Tahoe, Version: 26.0.1, Size: 16550558KiB, Build: 25A362, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Tahoe, Version: 26.0, Size: 16550645KiB, Build: 25A354, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Sequoia, Version: 15.7.2, Size: 15285166KiB, Build: 24G325, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Sequoia, Version: 15.7.1, Size: 15286154KiB, Build: 24G231, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Sequoia, Version: 15.7, Size: 15285579KiB, Build: 24G222, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Sequoia, Version: 15.6.1, Size: 15290420KiB, Build: 24G90, Deferred: NO

And there is no link to the full installer in the seed catalog. It was last updated 2 days ago.

Now it's there: https://swcdn.apple.com/content/dow...ciy7bhd9ux9utct03e07j6qp/InstallAssistant.pkg

This changed too now:

% softwareupdate --list-full-installers
Finding available software
Software Update found the following full installers:
* Title: macOS Tahoe, Version: 26.2, Size: 16975578KiB, Build: 25C56, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Tahoe Beta, Version: 26.2, Size: 16963366KiB, Build: 25C5048a, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Tahoe, Version: 26.1, Size: 16890687KiB, Build: 25B78, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Tahoe, Version: 26.0.1, Size: 16550558KiB, Build: 25A362, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Tahoe, Version: 26.0, Size: 16550645KiB, Build: 25A354, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Sequoia, Version: 15.7.3, Size: 15286709KiB, Build: 24G419, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Sequoia, Version: 15.7.2, Size: 15285166KiB, Build: 24G325, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Sequoia, Version: 15.7.1, Size: 15286154KiB, Build: 24G231, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Sequoia, Version: 15.7, Size: 15285579KiB, Build: 24G222, Deferred: NO
* Title: macOS Sequoia, Version: 15.6.1, Size: 15290420KiB, Build: 24G90, Deferred: NO

 

[Corefile]

Enough to justify transitioning away from Sequoia?

I'm sticking with Sequoia on my laptop in the hope that the OS after Tahoe fixes the problems it has. The Liquid Glass and incredibly rounded corners are awful.

 

[Mac_fan75]

In the way that this fiasco is going, I think that the safe thing to do is to wait for MacOS 27.1.

Hopefully it will be called Snow Leopard 2 or Snow Leopard Jr.

You sir need to install Windows 11

 

[Siliconguy]

Sonoma 14.8.3 also exists for those keeping AI at arms distance.

 

[GIZBUG]

Nope! Not even close.
I'm going to let others keep beta testing macOS 27 for me and think about this next Fall.

Thanks for the update 👍

 

[Adora]

Sonoma 14.8.3 also exists for those keeping AI at arms distance.

Sadly I can't downgrade to Sonoma on my M4 Pro Mac mini. I added the full installer link to my first post here.

 

[Deasnutz]

Sadly I can't downgrade to Sonoma on my M4 Pro Mac mini. I added the full installer link to my first post here.

Why not? I recently went to 26.1 so I could hear all voice memos across devices. I’ve yet to enable AI so it seems pretty stable.

 

[erikkfi]

Option to have the light turn on automatically in low light situations on Mac computers introduced in 2024 and later

Never forget how stupid Apple thinks you are.

 

[Adora]

Why not? I recently went to 26.1 so I could hear all voice memos across devices. I’ve yet to enable AI so it seems pretty stable.

The M4 Mac mini came after after the release of Sequoia. There is no Sonoma for it.

26.2 at least for me is much worse than 26.1. Not even the Finder is working properly. Even Beta 1-3 had been better than the RC. Don't know about AI. I have Apple Intelligence and Siri always disabled.

In every (beta) version of Tahoe something was slowing down and overheating my 14 core M4 Pro mini and my M3 iMac before. I don't accept that anymore.

Edit: I forgot to mention. Even while doing nothing processes or Finder went crazy and the fan ramped up.