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Macintosh HD Gets a New Look in Latest macOS Tahoe Beta
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I really wish and am hoping against hope that on April 1, 2026 we are going to get some kind of Retro nod to the past, and there will be something special released: I dream of a MacBook Air with a six colors rainbow on the lid and a theme/skin that can be applied to the OS that is called RetroOS...
But instead, I bet we will get a tweet.
But instead, I bet we will get a tweet.
Well I bought a mac mini with 2TB of internal storage so my icon will probably be a gold ingot or a diamond!
Yes, overdue.
Apple has been updating some classic Mac icons during the macOS Tahoe beta, upsetting some longtime Mac users who prefer the original look. In beta 5, Apple changed the design of the built-in Mac storage icon, which you'll notice if you have it on your desktop.
The existing icon still resembled a hard disk drive, but the new icon looks like a modern solid state drive. Apple's Macs stopped using hard disk drives starting more than a decade ago. The low-cost 21.5-inch iMac was the last Mac that had a hard drive component, as it used Apple's SSD + HDD Fusion Drive. All current Macs use SSDs.
If you don't want to see the new icon, you can hide Macintosh HD from view entirely. To do so, open up the Finder app's settings and click the check mark next to "Hard disks."
Apple also updated Disk Utility and the Finder icon in earlier betas. With the Finder icon, Apple initially reversed the color scheme with the light shade on the left and the dark on the right, but the uproar was so significant that Apple had to return it to the classic color arrangement.
Article Link: Macintosh HD Gets a New Look in Latest macOS Tahoe Beta
And so the thought process was "better make it 100%"?
I acknowledge that knowing what a harddrive is/looks like is becoming less common, although I suspect the percentage was probably quite a bit higher, but that still doesn't make the generic grey box a better option. Now it doesn;t look like a harddrive, or an SSD, and it sure as hell doesn't signal "this is a avatar of all of your machine's internal storage."
I'm sure we'll get more than a tweet. My money is on a month-long build-up to an announcement and then a two-hour infomercial as the actual announcement. You know, the usual.
I agree, but they had to do something.
Would you have preferred a PCB with a chip on it? (I think that'd be cool)
That's too bland. An effective graphical user interface (GUI) uses metaphorical icons that mean something to users so they'll more intuitively understand the function or application the icon represents.
That icon is too bland to represent anything to anyone. Very disappointing. They should keep the original, which actually looks like a real-world object.
That icon is too bland to represent anything to anyone. Very disappointing. They should keep the original, which actually looks like a real-world object.
These are so good. I use different coloured ones for all my external drives.
Imagine getting upset over a icon 
Is there any reason they would still call it Macintosh HD? That seems as archaic as the actual disk icon. Macintosh SSD?
Most people don’t know what a HDD looks like in real life. SSDs, External Drives, and flash drives, on the other hand, are commonplace in the public.
I kinda like antiquated icons though, like floppy disk for save.
Someone please tell Apple that the perspectives on that icon are all off! Like the Apple logo can’t look like that if the drive is supposed to be tilted.
I don’t get what the deal is with Apple. For a company that is all about design, they shouldn’t be able to release something like that into a beta.
I don’t get what the deal is with Apple. For a company that is all about design, they shouldn’t be able to release something like that into a beta.
Unfortunately pasted icons don't show up in the sidebar. Although an icon like this is too detailed to see well at the size shown in the sidebar.
I occasionally check out the posts for an article to see just how some incredibly minor thing will still elicit huge negative responses. Truly amazing.Imagine getting upset over a icon