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Do you like Liquid Glass on Mac?

  • Yes

  • Meh…

  • No


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correct. it must be how the pages are encoded?

so far Talkbass and LogicProHelp forums are the worst on my M1 MacStudio+Studio Display

Line6 is weird too? (dark window with shadow, tools hovering)
Screenshot 2025-09-18 at 8.25.18 PM.jpg
 
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I thought they say in promos you could turn it off? I only see Reduce Transparency. "PLease dear Jobs how can i rid myself of this pox" 🤣


PS: its not so bad on iPadPro, still a bit strong on the shadows... but not as distracting as the 27" ASD
 
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I love the comments. People are so resistant to change.

Personally as much Liquid Glass as they can implement would be a good thing. Maybe a lot of people don't remember OSX tiger with as much nostalgia and fondness as I do. I remember not being able to afford a Mac and being so envious of the GUI. Windows had XP at the time which I thought was very ugly although now I have a bit of nostalgia for that OS too.

My point is right around the time Microsoft put out MS Mobile with a really cool flat GUI that was very fast due to the low animations which led to Apple and Google adopting a flat GUI and never looking back for at least a decade or two. I love when OS GUI is majorly revamped. I feel like my M2 MBA is new again. I also feel like the OS feels faster which I like.

I do think the GUI needs more polish but for an initial release it is pretty good. Makes Windows look dated IMHO.

There are obviously bugs and GUI errors or things that could be implemented better which is what will happen with updates. As a starting point I am very happy.

I don't know what people expect. If Apple just kept things the same people would say they aren't doing anything new and it is boring which actually I think a desktop OS should be slightly. It is change. People get used to the way things look and personalize it and don't like change. I am one who loves a big change and working out the bugs.

Also big GUI changes and making things work differently within the OS from time to time is good for your brain which is why I use multiple OS to keep my mind learning new ways to do the same thing.
 
I'm convinced that age and length of experience with Mac is a factor here.

I know of nobody (ages 40-65) that likes this design direction for the Mac specifically.
I do? I am in your age range. I love it and hope they go deeper into the Liquid Glass look of OSX tiger.

I am old enough to remember older MacOS releases and although this GUI is a lot different than OSX tiger was I like the idea of making 3d like look of the desktop. There are things I really hated once I saw the merger of MacOS and iOS in the menus and settings. Now that I have used it a while I like the design cohesion between devices.

I like drastic GUI changes. I hate small iterative updates being released as major ones by say adding a dark mode or some other nice but inconsequential compared to a complete GUI overhaul. I like consistency of design and what I admire about Apple. It will take a few . updates to iron out the bugs but so far it seems pretty stable??
 
People are so resistant to change.

There are good changes. And then there's the mess that is Liquid Glass on macOS.

I embrace change. In fact, I love it when OSes get a new look and feel. But come on man, give me a break.

It's not the overall look of Liquid Glass. It's how disasterously it was implemented here in macOS. Stuff not aligning correctly, grotesque design bugs all over the place.

This isn't ready for prime time. It was rushed out the door, with all its embarrassing defects. It should have matured another year or so.
 
I don't know what people expect. If Apple just kept things the same people would say they aren't doing anything new and it is boring which actually I think a desktop OS should be slightly. It is change. People get used to the way things look and personalize it and don't like change. I am one who loves a big change and working out the bugs.
Queen Victoria famously said -- "What do you want to change things for...? Things are bad enough as they are!"

You seem to be doing the opposite: any change is good, no matter what it is.

The refractive effects on the controls, I'm largely ok with. It's a shame they're on a white background most of the time, which gives very little contrast. But the fact is that blurring text, just to indicate that it's not the top of a window's contents, objectively makes things less legible. Transparent content on a blurred background is objectively less legible than opaque content. Having the interface controls use a palette of white, off-white, and light grey is also objectively less legible.

Anyone who has spend more than half a day at design college knows that the medium must not distract from the message. The Tahoe interface does exactly -- it gets in the way of the information it is trying to display. And for proof -- how many discussions are there about the actual functional features in Tahoe, compared to the UI....?
 
I love the comments. People are so resistant to change.

They are when it restricts them from work, or forces them to be unable 'think different'.

My resistance to macOS 26 is practical. IF the user can't see the info on their screen clearly (effortlessly), the UI isnt designed properly—this goes back to the 'day 1' of the development of the GUI.

I'm ok with evolution of product design and 'packaging', but it shouldn't hobble the end user. At the very least, there should be user control; See-through controls and 'hyper shadowed' effects only distract from content. Just give the user a slider for transparency (Like the Color Picker).

  • IMO both iPadOS 26 and iOS 26 are nice, works well on their respective devices.
  • WatchOS 26 the 'Glass' look for notifications is just unintelligible. With blurry background underneath, there is no definition of the text in the Notification!—Its like looking at a map through greasy glasses.😆
  • Moreover as someone stated earlier in the thread, the macOS 26 just feels like an after-thought. Trying to view Menus and Control Center with the background 'bleeding through' SO prominently is a misstep.
 
I like drastic GUI changes. I hate small iterative updates being released as major ones by say adding a dark mode or some other nice but inconsequential compared to a complete GUI overhaul. I like consistency of design and what I admire about Apple.
'I like drastic change', 'I like consistency' - when you won't be able to tell your phone and your mac apart, will it be drastic and consistent enough?
 
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I love the comments. People are so resistant to change.
I'm old and grumpy and yes, change is hard sometimes. I don't think the liquid glass UI falls under change is hard, because its not a change per say. The new GUI seems to make it more difficult. I'm largely thinking of iOS26 where on your screen, all the icons are monochromatic, and transparent and just hard to see, especially in bright conditions.

I think the complaints are not resisting new technology, but rather a reluctance to embrace a new UI that actually increases one's effort to get their tasks done. I think apple's implementation of liquid glass is a step backwards in a sense things take longer then in prior versions of the OS - not strictly due to muscle memory but because its plainly less efficient.
 
I'm old and grumpy and yes, change is hard sometimes. I don't think the liquid glass UI falls under change is hard, because its not a change per say. The new GUI seems to make it more difficult. I'm largely thinking of iOS26 where on your screen, all the icons are monochromatic, and transparent and just hard to see, especially in bright conditions.

I think the complaints are not resisting new technology, but rather a reluctance to embrace a new UI that actually increases one's effort to get their tasks done. I think apple's implementation of liquid glass is a step backwards in a sense things take longer then in prior versions of the OS - not strictly due to muscle memory but because its plainly less efficient.
i honestly don't have any issue using my mac as i used it on sequoia; i work, open windows, type, read. make music... everything. took me less than a week to get used to the look, now it's just background.

but that's just my experience. i get that others don't feel comfortable with it. but i also believe that, in time, we'll adapt (willingly or not), and life will go on... until apple shakes things up again 🤷
 
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but that's just my experience. i get that others don't feel comfortable with it. but i also believe that, in time, we'll adapt (willingly or not), and life will go on... until apple shakes things up again 🤷

Many of us that "don't feel comfortable" arent decrying the fact that it's "new or different now", we're struggling with the design putting a barrier to our workflow. My critique is objective and focused on user interface and practical design element sensibilities. I could be subjective with my dislike of the rounded corners and lack of contrast but thats stuff "we all get use to over time". Going as far back as System 7, I have never experienced difficulty deciphering the GUI clearly on my screen.. until macOS26. As you said, thats just my experience. YMMV
 
I love the comments. People are so resistant to change.
No - they're resistant to change that doesn't offer improvement.

Change in of itself is neither a positive or negative thing, it's the net result of effort that matters. I could really care less about how much effort Apple put into the creative and technical aspect of Liquid Glass, that's irrelevant if the output is worser than the previous effort.

And I've yet to read or find a single compelling argument for why Liquid Glass is an improvement over what we've had previously, other than the novelty factor of it being, well... 'different'. Change for change's sake.

To be clear; Apple has transitioned the desktop environment to an interface that was designed first and foremost for a virtual reality headset, where a perception of depth is used separate content from controls. Not a stringent requirement, but a somewhat innovative, technical and creative accomplishment.

My guess is that they were so self-applauding for this concept that they felt the need to reuse and develop it everywhere, with the token argument of it 'providing consistency across platforms'. It looks good in marketing.

I don't buy this argument, because it doesn't specifically mention what aspect of consistency they're referring to. If they really do mean it in terms of interface guidelines, then that merely proves that they're willing to sacrifice usability to sell eye candy, because I don't know about anyone else but I didn't previously struggle with a sense of depth on my MacBook display or Studio Display.

There are many great examples of this, but I'll pick one; the new toggle switches. Previously these were circles in a slider and the animation of clicking it was a straightforward movement. It doesn't need to do anything else. But now, the switches are longer and make a ridiculous 'blob' effect when moved, again for absolutely no reason. It's neither charming no fun, it just slows the process down and looks distracting.

But then that is the story of Liquid Glass. People are drawing comparisons to Aqua and speaking along the lines of "We've heard all this before". The difference is, Aqua and subsequent GUIs drew upon real materials in a calm manner, calm being the word of Jony Ive. Liquid Glass takes a fragile material, turns it into something liquified that has erratic behaviours in movement and light, and creates unnecessary visual complexity in the GUI.

So if I'm 'resistant to change', it's because I've spent more than two decades owning and using Macs, and like many have had experienced the vast array of design decisions, good and bad. This time, the bad is a fundamental flaw in the concept rather than just a silly implementation (i.e. Cover Flow in Finder).
 
My critique is objective and focused on user interface and practical design element sensibilities.
i hear what you've said. but this still sounds subjective. for all the discussion on this forum, there are people out in the real world (ie not on this forum) who are just using their macs and not stressing about the GUI.

it's realistic to think that this is the new look. and all the complaining here won't change that basic core fact. (of course, i expect it will evolve somewhat).

so personally, am glad i'm ok with it, so i can focus on other things (like arguing on this forum 🙄🤣).
 
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Dig, and you are so right—Any debate here wont change the the look on the screen. Ultimately 'every line in the sand' is a wide chasm; with positive on one end, negative on the other, and a bellcurve of grey subjectivity in the middle.

Realistically, I can't do anything about it (maybe endlessly adjust Settings to find what works) and I still have to work on projects and see clients and get work done—your right 'we'll get through this'.

The last 20yrs the internet has made it too easy to pick a side on everything 🤣. —Anyone up to debate the pros and cons for raisins 😉
 
Truly. And I'm genuinely afraid of what's gong to happen to Logic Pro if the interface and windows are anything like what we see here.
final cut got an update today (19 sept) and... looks exactly the same. so (am suggesting that) panicking in advance about how these apps will look on tahoe is probably wasted energy. again, a suggestion 🙏
 
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Telling people they are not objective and panicking, just because you personally have no issue, is bad faith on steroids. No one is trying to convince you to hate it. So stop trying to convince others that everything is a-ok.
all i did was make a statement of fact, that FCP looks the same as of today's update. not sure what you're angry about 🤷
 
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