Reminds me of Crystal Gravy:
Last edited:
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Mac OS 26 Is Utter Garbage and Apple Has truly lost its way....
- Thread starter jsnuff1
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
looks great; and with the enhancements we've seen since the first beta, it's even better 👍
I think you should preface with “In my opinion”, given this is what you mandate to other members.
That video, what a load of bollocks. I am sure Timothy got his glasses scratched when they came up with that idea!
true, we should both do it (everyone should do that) 👍
The days that Apple was at the forefront of software innovation seem to be over and instead Apple is now following a trend Google and Windows had deployed a year or two ago towards rounded everything. I think at least Google was following Apple so this is one of those dog chasing the tail deals.
I have a Samsung GalaxyBook4 360 with rounded screen corners on all four corners which matches Windows 11 UI layout. It is at least 2 years old if not a bit older. Windows has had a rounded UI for a while now and it seems as if Apple is copying the layout but putting their spin on it to make it a groundbreaking and "new"" UI that nobody asked for. This UI layout was basically force fed users of all platforms but it was not a popular demand. Same with AI. It is being forced into the OS and nobody has asked for this. I was actually happy Apple was far behind in the AI race.
So now we have a super bloated OS which will have greater and greater needs for RAM and GPU due to AI integration that for some of us is completely unnecessary. Liquid Glass is an attempt most likely to push a touch UI on Mac users because Apple is facing pressure to build a touch screen Mac. I really hope this is not true. I like how we have iPad for touch interface needs and Macs for everything else. The screen clarity and quality will suffer once you add touch. I don't want OLED screens either. I want Apple to make micro Led screens an upgrade from miniled. This would be superior to OLED and I doubt many Mac users want a touch screen on their Mac?
I liked some of the hardware changes in the new MacBooks but I don't like some of the changes from earlier MacBooks like the light button on the removable battery to indicate power and other details. I actually liked the touchbar on the MBP and wish they would have continued development and added new features instead of just dropping it altogether. This to me was a better solution than a touchscreen on a Mac and was very useful. It must have been very expensive to add so it was a cost cutting measure. I used to admire Macs for the bright plastic cases and cool hardware designs and the beautiful UI. I know a lot of people may not care but I do and I really loved OSX tiger and Leopard. As with all OS it had its issues but the UI was amazing and I would love a 3d animated UI like that again. Or something new and beautiful with a lot of attention to detail. Liquid Glass is not anything close to Beautiful. They could have made it really nice and the rounded corner UI wasn't needed at all. Design should be about creating something beautiful not just a copied and pasted look or a aesthetic forced in the UI for a certain look that only decreases usability should obviously not be used.
I don't think Liquid Glass is unusable as I haven't encountered any usability bugs. It has been very stable for me since release. I was hopeful for the potential of a Liquid Glass UI reminiscent of OSX but the more I used the UI the more it was nothing like what I liked about Tiger or others. So I understand the resentment a lot of people have. I still enjoy Tahoe more than Windows 11. I really hope that Apple gets an earful of pushback and feedback and they get a new UI design team. Maybe a design team that has used older versions of MacOS including OSX versions and before so they have a progressive and cohesive feel for the OS over time. If designers don't have context for the OS by using older versions of the OS and try to apply sweeping design changes without really considering or caring the impacts of those design decisions on users. It feels like someone who doesn't even use a Mac designed this UI? I don't care how old the designers are but they have to be educated on the context of the design language used in the OS over time to properly design a new version in my opinion and that is what I feel is missing now?
I have a Samsung GalaxyBook4 360 with rounded screen corners on all four corners which matches Windows 11 UI layout. It is at least 2 years old if not a bit older. Windows has had a rounded UI for a while now and it seems as if Apple is copying the layout but putting their spin on it to make it a groundbreaking and "new"" UI that nobody asked for. This UI layout was basically force fed users of all platforms but it was not a popular demand. Same with AI. It is being forced into the OS and nobody has asked for this. I was actually happy Apple was far behind in the AI race.
So now we have a super bloated OS which will have greater and greater needs for RAM and GPU due to AI integration that for some of us is completely unnecessary. Liquid Glass is an attempt most likely to push a touch UI on Mac users because Apple is facing pressure to build a touch screen Mac. I really hope this is not true. I like how we have iPad for touch interface needs and Macs for everything else. The screen clarity and quality will suffer once you add touch. I don't want OLED screens either. I want Apple to make micro Led screens an upgrade from miniled. This would be superior to OLED and I doubt many Mac users want a touch screen on their Mac?
I liked some of the hardware changes in the new MacBooks but I don't like some of the changes from earlier MacBooks like the light button on the removable battery to indicate power and other details. I actually liked the touchbar on the MBP and wish they would have continued development and added new features instead of just dropping it altogether. This to me was a better solution than a touchscreen on a Mac and was very useful. It must have been very expensive to add so it was a cost cutting measure. I used to admire Macs for the bright plastic cases and cool hardware designs and the beautiful UI. I know a lot of people may not care but I do and I really loved OSX tiger and Leopard. As with all OS it had its issues but the UI was amazing and I would love a 3d animated UI like that again. Or something new and beautiful with a lot of attention to detail. Liquid Glass is not anything close to Beautiful. They could have made it really nice and the rounded corner UI wasn't needed at all. Design should be about creating something beautiful not just a copied and pasted look or a aesthetic forced in the UI for a certain look that only decreases usability should obviously not be used.
I don't think Liquid Glass is unusable as I haven't encountered any usability bugs. It has been very stable for me since release. I was hopeful for the potential of a Liquid Glass UI reminiscent of OSX but the more I used the UI the more it was nothing like what I liked about Tiger or others. So I understand the resentment a lot of people have. I still enjoy Tahoe more than Windows 11. I really hope that Apple gets an earful of pushback and feedback and they get a new UI design team. Maybe a design team that has used older versions of MacOS including OSX versions and before so they have a progressive and cohesive feel for the OS over time. If designers don't have context for the OS by using older versions of the OS and try to apply sweeping design changes without really considering or caring the impacts of those design decisions on users. It feels like someone who doesn't even use a Mac designed this UI? I don't care how old the designers are but they have to be educated on the context of the design language used in the OS over time to properly design a new version in my opinion and that is what I feel is missing now?
They also need to do Market Research! Ask a load of people on design, get the feedback and then work with the feedback. As you say pushing what you think people will love doesn't necessary mean it's the right decision. I think the more people complain about it the more they will do something about it. I honestly don't think they have taken any consideration for people who have sight problems or other issues where the screen becomes overwhelming into account.
Yes, I am all for a clean working environment clean lines et al.... But making it too overly or over the top aesthetics and it becomes too much and overwhelming.
likewise, I actually liked having a power button so I could keep my machine off while cleaning it, but it must have been costing billions, so now I have to fret I won't get short circuited while at it.
but if esc key debacle is any guidance, it might return as triumphantly and randomly as it disappeared - so much for consistency.
Going back about 30 years, I worked on equipment with a touchscreen interface and trackball. Gorilla arm is a real thing. Touch interface on desktops and even laptops is objectively a regression and arguably a health hazard.
Good news/bad news situation:
mastodon.social
Mark Gurman (@markgurman@mastodon.social)
Power On: After the iOS 26 overhaul, Apple’s plan for iOS 27 is a Snow Leopard-like year with a major focus on quality versus new features. But there’s one big exception: a lot more AI. Details here —...
mastodon.social
Design systems often aim at consistency, and Liquid Glass chose to take its cues from things external to the existing Mac platform. The corner radii on macOS was informed by the top-down external constraint of rounded corners on their hardware, resulting in hardware > window ui chrome > document content. To me, this is a misinformed approach to consistency; it should start from the user's document content. Good intention, wrong constraint.
As for the actual liquid visuals, it feels like someone was playing around with the dynamic background blur that Apple has been incrementally developing over the years and came up with a cool tech demo. Someone high enough was wowed, and they ran with it. This time imposing constraints of visual design on interaction design. Judging from all the tweaks and legibility still being hit and miss; nice demo, wrong constraint.
wait, are you saying that everything apple does with their OSes is simply based on the 'existing Mac platform'? so, no innovation, invention, change? nothing shaped by other OSes, newer tech, other aspects of the world we live in? hmmm
By external, I believe the point originally being made was that Liquid Glass is inspired by an interface-OS that was designed for an augmented reality experience, not a desktop computer.
Apple completely broke the interface hierarchy in Music with the changes for Tahoe. Controls are buried and rendered illegible on top of background out of context content. I could go on, but some of these changes are so fundamentally wrong from an information architecture perspective that "how it looks" becomes irrelevant. You can like the glass look but be completely at odds with the layout and workflow changes.
i use the music app all the time, and not having any issues. i see controls, lyrics, albums, songs, playlists... and (most importantly) hear music coming out of my speakers.
can you prove this: "some of these changes are so fundamentally wrong from an information architecture perspective"
That’s fine, but again I think you need to highlight that this is your own personal experience and doesn’t reflect (or negate) others who are having issues.
am not negating anyone who has any issues, with anything. my experiences are my own, as are yours, or anyone elses. and all of our experiences are vaild.
Really? You can actually see the handle for the playback head on the Now Playing bar, despite it now being invisible until you hover over it with your cursor? You can actually see your entire playlist despite it now being covered and obscured by the Now Playing bar? You can actually see time position or remaining for the currently playing track, without having to hover over the track progress bar first? It's fine that you can accept these arbitrary changes to Music; many of us do not. There is not a valid reason for these changes having been made, other than someone deciding the whole interface needed to look glassy and layered.
The information architecture faults are discussed heavily in this thread. Putting the Now Playing bar anywhere other than at the top of the window is the first contradiction of this well-defined subject. As for proof, please enlighten yourself by doing your own research on the subject. There are many free resources available.
i don't need to do any research, i just want to play music, and i can do that without issue. if there are things bothering you, there's a whole thread about the music app (similar to the ones that crop up everytime apple releases a new OS)...
Why are you asking for proof then? If none of this bothers you, I don't see what motivation you could possibly have to post on this thread beyond padding your post count.
Glad you didn't bother to read my post and instead referred me to a thread that I had just linked to when telling you about all the things that are wrong about the updated layout for Music from an information architecture perspective.
i did read your post. and this isn't the 'music thread', it's here
if you feel you speak for the world re "an information architecture perspective', that's great. again, i can do everything i need in the app, and i can play music, my main purpose for ever opening it. am not here to convince anyone that that might be enough
Yes, that's the thread I linked to for your edification, thank you for confirming my link. 🤣
This thread is a discussion of MacOS26 and all of the various things that are wrong with it, which necessarily includes but is not limited to the changes to Music.
ha, got it (i obviously didn't check your link). ppl can discuss these things forever (or more realistically, until next year, when OS 27's first beta drops, and everyone melts down all over again).
meanwhile, i continue to use my mac, my apps, music, logic pro, the finder... everything, and continue to enjoy the whole experience. but fair enough that others aren't happy, and great that there are places like this forum to discuss the details ☺️
Last edited: