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macOS Tahoe 26.2 Release Candidate Now Available to Developers and Public Beta Testers

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Apple today provided the release candidate of an upcoming macOS Tahoe 26.2 update to developers and public beta testers, with the update coming two weeks after Apple seeded the third beta. The RC represents the final version of macOS Tahoe 26.2 that will be provided to the public as long as no bugs are found in the software.

macOS-Tahoe-26-Thumb-2.jpg

Testers can download the macOS Tahoe 26.2 update by opening up the System Settings app, selecting the General category, and then choosing Software Update. Beta Updates will need to be enabled.

macOS Tahoe 26.2 includes Edge Light, a new feature for video calls. Edge Light adds a border of soft light around the edges of the Mac's display to illuminate your face in darkened rooms. Edge Light is meant to mimic the look of a physical ring light.

Edge Light uses the Neural Engine for positioning, so it is optimally placed around your face in the video frame. Light color can be adjusted from warm to cool, and intensity varies based on ambient lighting. Edge Light is available in video conferencing apps like FaceTime and Webex alongside other options like backgrounds, Portrait mode, and Voice Isolation. It works on Macs that support Apple silicon.

Along with Edge Light, the Reminders app is getting an option to have an alarm go off when a reminder is due, the News app has some design updates, and Apple is adding new features to the Podcasts app.

Article Link: macOS Tahoe 26.2 Release Candidate Now Available to Developers and Public Beta Testers
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/12/03/apple-seeds-macos-tahoe-26-2-rc/
Last edited:
build number is 25C56

other rc builds:

macOS 15.7.3 RC 4 (24G419)
macOS 14.8.3 RC 4 (23J220)
iOS 26.2 RC 1 (23C52)
iOS 18.7.3 RC 1 (22H217)
iPadOS 26.2 RC 1 (23C52)
iPadOS 18.7.3 RC 1 (22H217)
watchOS 26.2 RC 1 (23S303)
tvOS 26.2 RC 1 (23K51) - next day RC 2 (23K53)
audioOS 26.2 RC 1 (23K51) - next day RC 2 (23K53)
visionOS 26.2 RC 1 (23N301)
 
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All I wish for is better Exposé performance. Got better in 26.1 but there’s still some temporary bottlenecks in terms of animation smoothness. Hoping for 26.2 to deliver something here :)
 
Missing all my flags in Apple Mail now and searching Mail finds little to nothing. Also spotlight isn't locating documents that are on laptop. Have rebooted a few times, waited a while, nothing changed. Maybe rebuilding the spotlight index next will fix (I hope).
 
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"Edge Light uses the Neural Engine for positioning"

So I guess we need neural nets to draw a white box around the edge of displays.
 
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There is this bug that really annoys me for many releases now and still not fixed in 26.2 RC: if I add a folder (like Applications) to the Dock and set it to Grid view, the entire grid bubble will just jump right-down unexpectedly about 10-15 pixels as soon as I move the mouse (dock icon magnification has to be enabled and one has to wait with the movement until the grid to fully unfold to reproduce). :eek:
 
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I wouldn’t recommend installing any version of iOS 26 until at least 26.4. Remember, guys, iOS 26 is still a work in progress—an unfinished product. If you’re on the latest iOS 18 (18.7.2) (15.7.2 for macOS Sequoia), just stick with it until most of the bugs are taken care of
 
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So many bugs at the moment for me with Tahoe on my Macbook Pro M3. But the one that annoys me the most is that for some reason, if I close the lid on my Mac BEFORE placing my Airpods 3 into their case, it 'corrupts' the bluetooth connection. Music (Spotify, iTunes, Youtube) will no longer play once I put in my Airpods into my ears again. I have to remove them from Bluetooth settings and then re-pair them before they will work again. Annoying as hell!!
 
  • Wow
Reactions: robd003, blob.DK and Saturn1217
Is the play bar still at the bottom of the Music app window? Are there still weird connectivity/VPN issues? Are there still those stupid extra boxes in every finder window?
 
The relentless new OS releases which used to by every 2 yrs or so, now every year to match up with the yearly hardware updates.
 
robd003 said:
I really hope this fixes the memory leaks and insane battery drain
Click to expand...
Interesting. I am a developer for about +30 years from the classic mas OS 9 up to the latest macOS26 and I my experience macOS26 has very little issues with memory leaks. In fact, the last couple macOS versions are insanely good in detecting unreleased memory addresses. Even for badly writing apps, it covers those leaks not directly related to macOS itself. It's even hard to code an app with Swift that does leak memory.

So, unless you just shouting, it would be awesome if you can share some recordings with Instruments/Leaks profiles so we can take a look at it.
 
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