I’ve been running the Tahoe betas across a few Macs, and just tried the RC again on another machine. Honestly? I’m still resisting the jump.
Liquid Glass just isn’t clicking for me. On iPhone and iPad, I’ve made my peace with it. But on the Mac, it feels more like clutter than clarity, especially inside Finder windows. Instead of elegance, it introduces layers of visual noise that pull my eye in all the wrong directions.
I’ve explored the accessibility toggles, which blunt some of the effect, but the whole thing still feels… patched on. It reminds me of those old third-party skinning apps from back in the day—where yes, technically everything “worked,” but the seams were obvious and the polish wasn’t there. That’s the vibe Tahoe gives off right now: functional, but with too many rough edges to feel like a natural evolution of macOS.
And honestly? I really feel for the engineers. I know there are soooo many features I'm sure they're wanting to get to, and so many unresolved bug reports submitted by many of us (myself included), and ultimately just so much cruft that's built-up within the system over so many past versions.
To be clear, I’m not trying to start a “bash Liquid Glass” dogpile. My gripe is less about the idea and more about the execution. I’ve always been one of the first to update—sometimes even reckless about it—but this time around, I’m perfectly content staying on Sequoia. In fact, I’d prefer to hang onto it for as long as possible.
Of course, I know the clock is ticking. Features will eventually get locked behind Tahoe—both from Apple and from third-party developers. That’s already starting: Xcode’s new AI integration requires Tahoe for reasons Apple hasn’t explained. It’s a glimpse of the inevitable pressure to move forward, whether you like the design direction or not.
For now though, Sequoia feels stable, clean, and consistent. And unless something changes dramatically between RC and release, Tahoe just isn’t ready to be my daily driver.
For those who've been braver than me and upgraded already, how's it holding up in day-to-day use? I'm especially curious for folks who are using pro apps (video or design). I'm honestly nervous about how Final Cut and other apps are going to start looking once they more heavily adopt Liquid Glass.
Liquid Glass just isn’t clicking for me. On iPhone and iPad, I’ve made my peace with it. But on the Mac, it feels more like clutter than clarity, especially inside Finder windows. Instead of elegance, it introduces layers of visual noise that pull my eye in all the wrong directions.
I’ve explored the accessibility toggles, which blunt some of the effect, but the whole thing still feels… patched on. It reminds me of those old third-party skinning apps from back in the day—where yes, technically everything “worked,” but the seams were obvious and the polish wasn’t there. That’s the vibe Tahoe gives off right now: functional, but with too many rough edges to feel like a natural evolution of macOS.
And honestly? I really feel for the engineers. I know there are soooo many features I'm sure they're wanting to get to, and so many unresolved bug reports submitted by many of us (myself included), and ultimately just so much cruft that's built-up within the system over so many past versions.
To be clear, I’m not trying to start a “bash Liquid Glass” dogpile. My gripe is less about the idea and more about the execution. I’ve always been one of the first to update—sometimes even reckless about it—but this time around, I’m perfectly content staying on Sequoia. In fact, I’d prefer to hang onto it for as long as possible.
Of course, I know the clock is ticking. Features will eventually get locked behind Tahoe—both from Apple and from third-party developers. That’s already starting: Xcode’s new AI integration requires Tahoe for reasons Apple hasn’t explained. It’s a glimpse of the inevitable pressure to move forward, whether you like the design direction or not.
For now though, Sequoia feels stable, clean, and consistent. And unless something changes dramatically between RC and release, Tahoe just isn’t ready to be my daily driver.
For those who've been braver than me and upgraded already, how's it holding up in day-to-day use? I'm especially curious for folks who are using pro apps (video or design). I'm honestly nervous about how Final Cut and other apps are going to start looking once they more heavily adopt Liquid Glass.
