Does anyone actually like macOS Tahoe?

[Black_Mage]

I plan on upgrading with the release of 26.3 not because I'm excited about 26 but more because I'm tired of the constant reminders to upgrade. It's possible I'll feel different about it once I try it. 🤷

 

[Cape Dave]

First observation is that it, well, just works. Secondly though, it just doesn't look professional - it's gimmicky and cartoony rather than being slick and fit for real work rather than tootling around and doing fun stuff.

You speak the truth. I keep thinking that Mickey Mouse is going to popup on my screen. Hey, MacOS, get the hell out of my damn way!

 

[Black_Mage]

Secondly though, it just doesn't look professional

In Apple's defense, I'm sure people were saying this about Aqua when MacOS X was released to the public for the first time.

 

[avkills]

In Apple's defense, I'm sure people were saying this about Aqua when MacOS X was released to the public for the first time.

Except that the look was consistent across everything. For me it was a bit too cartoonish, which is why my preference has been the flatter looks like High Sierra.

Might be graphic design thing, flatter interfaces generally make working on stuff easier since the interface does not compete with whatever you are working on. 🤷‍♂️

Now when they get my holographic tactile interface working and then it can distort the actual physical world then I will be impressed. 🤣

 

[PotentPeas]

I plan on upgrading with the release of 26.3 not because I'm excited about 26 but more because I'm tired of the constant reminders to upgrade.

There are options to get around the nags.

See:

Defer Tahoe for 90 days

As macOS Tahoe will be release on 15 September 2025, I installed on my Macs with the latest Sequoia the profile to defer Tahoe for 90 days: Defer90.mobileconfig PayloadContent PayloadDisplayName Restrictions PayloadIdentifier...

forums.macrumors.com

Defer for 90 days actually is still working. The Tahoe update won't even appear as an option.

Defer Tahoe for 90 days

Thank you for confirming, that exactly what it’s supposed to happen. As Apple doesn’t push updates/upgrades to all Macs and regions at the same time, some of us will see Tahoe 26.0 sooner then others. When Tahoe 26.0 will appear on my Mac mini M4, I’ll: - remove the defer profile - keep the...

forums.macrumors.com

Options for when 90 day deferral stops working. You can use a policy to remove the bubble, and set the "last nagged date" to far into the future to avoid the nags.

 

[AMantheGreat82]

Seems to do about the same as before, just matches aesthetics, which I like. No issues here. I like Spotlight better now than before I guess. 14” M3 Pro MBP

 

[cjsuk]

After this week I am ****ing done.

I'll write it up in another thread as it's a long one but this week I've had to switch partially back to paper due to calendar data loss, the photos app crapped out badly, had to deal with another XPC / Cocoa buggity crap security problem with Qt, two more damn tracks have gone missing from Apple Music, Airdrop has just completely stopped working and my keyboard has a duff key.

 

[mdcmdcmdc]

In Apple's defense, I'm sure people were saying this about Aqua when MacOS X was released to the public for the first time.

Never mind Aqua, people said this about the original Macintosh. It was criticized as a toy. Serious computers didn't use pretty pictures. That's why Apple actively discouraged gaming, and it wasn't until 1987 (3 years after the original Mac, and after Steve Jobs left) that it supported color displays.

 

[macaddiict]

My newer Mac is stuck on Tahoe and I find myself dealing with an Intel MacBook just to avoid Tahoe.

The incredible snappiness advanced of M-series Macs seems washed out by the poor performance and hanging stutters on Tahoe, so intel doesn't feel QUITE as slow as it used to

 

[Lt.Bananas]

seems like this release gets more flack than iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 as time moves along.
Dunno what it is, but now that the dust has settled and it's a few months past x.0 people on X are getting tired of iOS 26, but less forgiving for Mac since that's an 'essential productivity device' for them or something. IDK.

I just got an M4 iPad Pro that came with iOS 18 and think I might stick with it for a while. 26.2 is much better than 26.0 was on my iPad mini 7 that made me truly regret it for a while, but I dont have a burning desire to upgrade it either.

I don't really want to downgrade my M2 15 inch Air out of laziness, but it's nice that I could if I wanted to.

Anyways, go ahead and state your opinion.

I think the most grating thing is the brightness flicker bug I am experiencing intermittently. Usually a reboot will fix it for a while but then it comes back with a vengeance. Performance and battery life overall seem ok.

...I don't like Launchpad being gone but I will deal. Overall I'm probably in undecided as I dont hate it, but it's mostly nothing really improved either lol

Tahoe Added a Finder Option to Resize Columns to Fit Filenames

The unpolished version of the feature we have today only reiterates my belief that Tahoe is a mistake to be avoided. It’s a good idea though, and there aren’t even many of those in Tahoe.

daringfireball.net

Anecdotally, Gruber is famously sticking with Sequoia, and he's a total Mac fanboy.

I think it's been perfectly fine for me. I very much like the liquid glass update, I changed my wallpaper to match and everything feels so refreshed. Don't think I've had any problems with bugs and the like on here, it's more just iOS that's been a problem. I like the looks, and have wanted them for a while, but the bugginess is killer. I wanna add some widgets so that the desktop isn't so empty. I gotta find some that match the overall aesthetic.

 

[fisherking]

After this week I am ****ing done.

I'll write it up in another thread as it's a long one but this week I've had to switch partially back to paper due to calendar data loss, the photos app crapped out badly, had to deal with another XPC / Cocoa buggity crap security problem with Qt, two more damn tracks have gone missing from Apple Music, Airdrop has just completely stopped working and my keyboard has a duff key.

that's not usual, at all. and would be worth starting a thread for help. are you on a beta? if so, wait for the next official update, then reach out to apple if need be (or if you're not on a beta, you could call them now)... good luck!

 

[tbone7467]

i dont like apps container. I liked launchpad better

 

[MBAir2010]

For me, its not about love, hate, like, dislike, but does the operating system allow me to work the way I want to work, or must I conform to how it wants me to work. Does the non-core extraneous stuff interfere with my day to day activities, or are distracting enough for me to want to change operating systems?

thank you for a perfect scenario of what computers are meant for!

 

[cjsuk]

that's not usual, at all. and would be worth starting a thread for help. are you on a beta? if so, wait for the next official update, then reach out to apple if need be (or if you're not on a beta, you could call them now)... good luck!

I don't have the energy for that. I can self-serve these issues if I care. But I don't. I want to do stuff.

So I have just moved the essential workloads to my Linux box. That's getting used more and more these days.

 

[fisherking]

I don't have the energy for that. I can self-serve these issues if I care. But I don't. I want to do stuff.

So I have just moved the essential workloads to my Linux box. That's getting used more and more these days.

well, again, not typical. but if you have a system that works for you, that's great!

 

[Madonepro]

Mark my words, macOS Tahoe is Apple's Windows Vista, macOS 27 is going to be Apple's Windows 7

Hail the Oracle!

 

[Madonepro]

i dont like apps container. I liked launchpad better

Go to Applications and open the ‘Apps’ app, (it may already be open in the dock) and then click the 3 dots in top right hand corner, and select grid, and you get a similar experience.

 

[mackard]

Performance wise its intended to obsolete m1, explains that.

I like bubbles (and computer graphics eye candy in general).

Basically big sur all over again, some things better, some things worse.

I'll have to conclude this is a release for apple. They probably don't even care its the last version for intel macs, which is what i'm first looking at.

EDIT: The real test of macos these days doesn't seem to be the first year, but in hindsight, how many users end up camping on it during extended and off support and tell everyone why its the best. Given the performance bloat i don't think this will be one of those... :/

 

[mdcmdcmdc]

Performance wise its intended to obsolete m1, explains that.

I dunno... I'm running 26.2 on a first gen 13" M1 MBP (with 16GB though), and it seems to run just as well as Sonoma.

 

[montycat]

The rounded corners is a huge distraction for me.

 

[Kal Madda]

Thanks for the poll. I like Tahoe. The unified Liquid Glass design across iPadOS, macOS, and iOS, is so nice, it makes everything feel so much more harmonious. 👍🏻

 

[Kal Madda]

Also really nice to see a majority in this poll who like Tahoe. I’m actually pretty surprised since it often seems like people are really negative about it in this forum. 🙂👍🏻

 

[fisherking]

Also really nice to see a majority in this poll who like Tahoe. I’m actually pretty surprised since it often seems like people are really negative about it in this forum. 🙂👍🏻

because the naysayers post the most (well, almost as much as i do 🤣), and like to go on (and on) about the things they object to... 🙄

 

[Kal Madda]

I dunno... I'm running 26.2 on a first gen 13" M1 MBP (with 16GB though), and it seems to run just as well as Sonoma.

Same here. macOS Tahoe runs butter smooth on my base spec M1 Mac Mini.

 

[Madonepro]

The rounded corners is a huge distraction for me.

So you are sat in front of your computer, and instead of looking at the content, you are peering into the corners of the window that is in front of you, and being distracted. I would suggest there is no issue with the OS in this case.