macOS "Tahoe" 26.5 released: Is it time to upgrade from Sequoia? (poll)

[CMMChris]

What I see is that, even in core Apple apps such as Mail or Safari (I haven't actually installed a single third-party app yet and am copying data/bookmarks/etc ver manually rather than using the migration tool so I'm running a very clean system), if I'm doing something in the main app display area and then go up to the app's toolbar to click a button, maybe to archive an email in the Apple Mail app, the mouse pointer often (very often - maybe 50% of the time) stays stuck on whatever state it was in when it was within the main Mail display area so I often find myself navigating the app's toolbar not with a mouse arrow but with the mouse pointer still as a grab-hand or a tall thin text edit cursor. Clicking the toolbar button still does what's expected but it's annoying clicking a button with a big grab-hand or a text editing cursor rather than an arrow pointer and it's something I never encountered in any Microsoft Windows release that I can remember so I'm rather surprised and disappointed to see such sloppy glitches in MacOS.

Welcome to the world of Apple bugs that just never get fixed. This bug is one of the oldest known macOS bugs. It's been annoying me since OS X Leopard - no, I'm not kidding. It's been happening with variing degrees of intensity across different macOS versions but never was fixed entirely. And yes, in 26.5 it's happening more often again. Spent half my day with a text cursor yesterday. 😂

 

[throAU]

I'm a very new MacOS user, I moved from Windows after 35 years of using that on my desktop PC (most recently Windows 11) to MacOS when my first ever Mac hardware (M5 MacBook Pro) arrived 15 days ago, initially with 26.4 installed but I installed the 26.5 update as soon as it was released so that is what I'm running now.

While I'm blown away by the speed and smoothness of the system - I suspect a combination of the spectacularly good hardware specs and probably some very competent kernel engineers who do actually live up to Apple's messaging that tight integration of Apple-controlled software with a reasonably well-constrained set of Apple-controlled hardware yields good results - I am surprised and disappointed by some other aspects of Tahoe. One thing in particular bugs me a lot and I'm wondering if it is an artefact of Liquid Glass or if it was an issue before that. The issue that is bugging me is the handling of the mouse pointer, something that I would have thought would be a very basic thing to get right.

What I see is that, even in core Apple apps such as Mail or Safari (I haven't actually installed a single third-party app yet and am copying data/bookmarks/etc ver manually rather than using the migration tool so I'm running a very clean system), if I'm doing something in the main app display area and then go up to the app's toolbar to click a button, maybe to archive an email in the Apple Mail app, the mouse pointer often (very often - maybe 50% of the time) stays stuck on whatever state it was in when it was within the main Mail display area so I often find myself navigating the app's toolbar not with a mouse arrow but with the mouse pointer still as a grab-hand or a tall thin text edit cursor. Clicking the toolbar button still does what's expected but it's annoying clicking a button with a big grab-hand or a text editing cursor rather than an arrow pointer and it's something I never encountered in any Microsoft Windows release that I can remember so I'm rather surprised and disappointed to see such sloppy glitches in MacOS.

Is this something that others have noticed and if so is it a new glitch with Tahoe/Liquid-Glass or was it always like this? I'm struggling to think it might be something specific to my setup because my MacBook was set up as new so no migration tool has had a chance to interfere with anything and as I mentioned above I haven't installed a single third-party app yet so it's pretty much a factory-fresh machine still.

This is a bug i’ve noticed with 26.5 recently, it should not be doing that and it will be fixed.

I’m not sure if it is more common due to a bug introduced in multiple macOS versions recently, but i’ve only noticed it in the past few weeks and i’ve been running macOS as my primary desktop for 15 years now.

 

[CMMChris]

and it will be fixed.

You sure can dream about it. Why should Apple suddenly fix it? They had 20 years to do it. 😀

 

[throAU]

You sure can dream about it. Why should Apple suddenly fix it? They had 20 years to do it. 😀

I have been using macOS about that long and have not had the issue until 26.4 or 26.5

 

[CMMChris]

Interesting, but if you look it up, you will see how old the bug is.

 

[Terraaustralis]

I suppose they could have named it "26 Donner Pass." That area is also quite pretty but still carries a connotation.

At this point there is no point in updating to 26. I'll just wait until 27 and see how that shakes out.

As for the "Because the Mac doesn't exist in a vacuum" therefore it has to look like an iPhone (the Vision thing is now dead and buried) in this house the Mac does exist in a vacuum. If visual consistency is that important then the Cinnamon edition of the Mac OS please. Clean, sharp, easy to read, no clutter. Yes I prefer it even to KDE Plasma.

If 27 is good I'll update the MBA. If Apple blows it again then the MBA goes to Sequoia and I'll look at 28. If that fails then the MBA goes to Linux since that is an option now.

I agree. From articles I have read Apple aesthetics are being driven by synchronicity with iPhone. Since "System Preferences" in Monterey transitioned to "System Settings" in Ventura, each new OSX has introduced features which are increasingly trivial or irrelevant to me.

Once upon a time, Apple was a company which produced computers and iPhones. Now Apple is a company which produces media machines. With a significant change in attitude, if I am correct. Hence the logic of applying solid state iPhone technology to the computer and the issue of making the two products more consistent for user experience. While logical up to a point, the implementation of this intention is poor in my opinion.

The number of Apple apps is increasing along with duplication and overlap of function. With an increasing rate of OSX turnover we get increasing bugs and new learning curves as familiar and new features demand our attention and require us to adjust. While I have to respect that Apple is a very clever company with excellent customer service in my experience, all these current OSX inconveniences are the result of a desire for greater profit by increasing turnover. It is the American way of business.

As a customer since 1990, I would appreciate greater integration and refinement of what already exists instead of this manic sense of urgency about what comes next. The Jobs/Ives design philosophy is based upon Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s aesthetic that "Less is more". That view seems to have passed with its practitioners.

My impression is that Apples race for implementation of features, the company not only makes more difficult the solid security it advocates, but is creating an increasingly fragmented OSX. I would like to see Apple give serious consideration about integration of existing apps and features while giving equally serious respect to the tried and true aesthetics which has made Apple the smartest consumer on the market.

Just my opinion.

 

[Warped9]

People actually use the magic mouse? Damn.

I have never had an issue with the Magic Mouse. I’ve loved it since 2011. And I do 3D modelling with it.

 

[Flaviu Stanemir]

People actually use the magic mouse? Damn.

I actually loved it. 😆 For quite a while now, though, I’ve been using only an external Apple Trackpad with everything. Still, I have a soft spot for the Magic Mouse, it’s elegant, stylish, and the gesture support on macOS and iPadOS feels incredibly natural. Most of the time, I don’t even need to physically click; a simple tap is enough. 😎

--
On topic, though, I voted no on the poll above. I still feel Tahoe needs a few more refinements, and with macOS 27 just around the corner, skipping Tahoe altogether might actually be the better approach.

 

[sracer]

I just updated my M2 Mac Mini from Ventura (13.7.8) to Tahoe (26.5) because two apps I use (Logos and Xune) required it.

Tahoe has a 10GB larger footprint than Ventura. Between Liquid Glass, comically rounded window corners, and cartoonish icons, my Mac Mini looks like Fisher-Price's My First Mac ™ I'm now experiencing bluetooth issues where none previously exists. (I'm still troubleshooting this)

But I fully understand that I'm an old caveman who prefers the old Windows classic / Unix Motif UI styles where the UI "chrome" was a neutral gray and minimal to allow the content of apps to be the focus.

In contrast, Tahoe looks great on my wife's blush Neo. It fits.

 

[PotentPeas]

Those who voted no: What exactly are you waiting for? I've had no issues since 26.2, corrected in 26.3. Appearance can easily be changed to your liking, altho I prefer dark mode, and it performs as well as any other OS this far into a release.

I waited until 26.5 to upgrade. I probably would have waited a little longer, but I've got a M5 work system coming in which won't be able to run Sequoia, so it's time to get used to it.

My reason for waiting was largely that there's just no pressing "need" to upgrade. Sequoia works fine. It still gets security updates. Tahoe also has very little in the way of enticing new features. I figure the longer I wait, the smoother the transition will be. On the "downside", it has UI inconsistencies which might not bother some people but certainly are things that I easily pick up on. (Inconsistent border radius between apps is the main one, that's new thing for macOS.)

Now, after upgrading and using it for about a week now, it is … fine. Nothing has popped up that especially bothers me, again other than the inconsistent border radius, which I already knew was going to be a thing. But I'm still glad that I waited this long.

 

[travsG5]

26.5 is running well on my base model Mac Pro 7,1 (Intel) which has a couple non-stock cards: RX6800 and a MacFiver card with a 2TB NVME for Windows11. No problems to report here at all. My Card reader, USB devices and all apps work.

 

[philstubbington]

I take the view that I’m going to have to upgrade at some point, so may as well get it done ASAP. Same with all our Apple devices.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I take the view that I’m going to have to upgrade at some point, so may as well get it done ASAP. Same with all our Apple devices.

eh .. I'm more of the view of "let them sort it out for the first many months"

I see no reason to jump into .0-.3 releases which are basically betas with tons of issues usually.

 

[PotentPeas]

I take the view that I’m going to have to upgrade at some point, so may as well get it done ASAP. Same with all our Apple devices.

eh .. I'm more of the view of "let them sort it out for the first many months"

Agree with the latter. There is value in waiting. I can point to three easy things:

• There are plenty of cases where Apple is fixing more notable bugs in the months following a major OS upgrade. Waiting gives time for Apple to fix bugs. (I upgraded to Sequoia too early, and all of the bugs that bothered me were gone by 15.3. Should have waited.)
• Similarly, sometimes third-party apps need compatibility attention after a major OS upgrade. Waiting gives time for that to be addressed. (See… basically all Electron apps running on Tahoe in the first weeks after launch.)
• Finally, waiting gives time for the community to build up knowledge. So, if you do hit a snag after you upgrade, if you have waited a bit, there is a greater chance that someone else has also hit it and figured it out already.

 

[Cape Dave]

I just updated my M2 Mac Mini from Ventura (13.7.8) to Tahoe (26.5) because two apps I use (Logos and Xune) required it.

Tahoe has a 10GB larger footprint than Ventura. Between Liquid Glass, comically rounded window corners, and cartoonish icons, my Mac Mini looks like Fisher-Price's My First Mac ™ I'm now experiencing bluetooth issues where none previously exists. (I'm still troubleshooting this)

But I fully understand that I'm an old caveman who prefers the old Windows classic / Unix Motif UI styles where the UI "chrome" was a neutral gray and minimal to allow the content of apps to be the focus.

In contrast, Tahoe looks great on my wife's blush Neo. It fits.

I cannot believe that last sentence. Otherwise, I totally agree 🙂 "Mac Mini looks like Fisher-Price's My First Mac" thank you for the fischer price analogy. I have been trying to think of that forever. Perfect description. Now, where did I put my crayons?

 

[turbineseaplane]

But I fully understand that I'm an old caveman who prefers the old Windows classic / Unix Motif UI styles where the UI "chrome" was a neutral gray and minimal to allow the content of apps to be the focus.

You're not a caveman, and neither am I or any of the rest of us who prefer this.

UI should be getting out of the way and not drawing so much attention so we can focus on our content.

 

[Cape Dave]

You're not a caveman, and neither am I or any of the rest of us who prefer this.

UI should be getting out of the way and not drawing so much attention so we can focus on our content.

Well said.

 

[johnrlaporta]

What I still can’t get over is why Public Sharing via iTunes doesn’t work properly in 26 in the TV or Music applications. I’ve been able to play movies and music from my Mac Mini server for 15+ years without issue to any device. Now with my MacBook Pro and macOS 26, it doesn’t work. No word from Apple on this still.

 

[IvyKing]

But I fully understand that I'm an old caveman who prefers the old Windows classic / Unix Motif UI styles where the UI "chrome" was a neutral gray and minimal to allow the content of apps to be the focus.

Glad to know that I'm not the only one who likes the Motif style - have a copy of "Visual Design with OSF/Motif" on the bookshelf next to my Mini set-up. Have one application, xephem, that uses the Motif library.

 

[winterwolf]

I'll wait for 26.5.1 and bite the bullet (though I still don't prefer the look). Make sure to backup first!

 

[soundweave]

I think the visual design is a downgrade, with issues like the overly rounded corners, odd visual hierarchies for sidebars, bubble buttons everywhere, music app design, etc. Sequoia looks cleaner, more professional and usable, very happy with it, so I'm not interested on my M1 until that improves. Not to mention additional usage overhead some people experience

 

[Abydos]

'professional', a colleague of mine was described the shotgun as the first point and click interface

 

[Black_Mage]

The only reason I upgraded my Studio is my MacBook Pro was shipped with MacOS 26. I didn't want them running different versions. If it wasn't for that, I'd be perfectly happy running MacOS 15 until 27.1. Honestly, the only problem I ran into with 26 is I had to reinstall my VPN to get it to work correctly.

 

[ADGrant]

Define fine, what you do you do and what Intel mac is it

Aside from looking awful I am not seeing any performance issues. I use it for various software development tasks using the following IDEs Xcode (Swift), CLion (C++) and RustRover (Rust). None are light on resources. I also edit video using Davinci Resolve. I do not use any Adobe software or Microsoft Office.

It's a 2020 27" 5k iMac with 64gb of system RAM, 16gb of video RAM on a 5700XT and a 2TB internal SSD.

 

[Miles Fu]

Aside from looking awful I am not seeing any performance issues. I use it for various software development tasks using the following IDEs Xcode (Swift), CLion (C++) and RustRover (Rust). None are light on resources. I also edit video using Davinci Resolve. I do not use any Adobe software or Microsoft Office.

It's a 2020 27" 5k iMac with 64gb of system RAM, 16gb of video RAM on a 5700XT and a 2TB internal SSD.

64G RAM matters