Professional workflows broken: Finder Sidebar, network priority, Wacom input

[ArtRev]

I’ve been using Macs professionally since 1989 – through Classic, OS X, Intel, Apple Silicon, you name it. Over decades, I’ve accepted Apple’s design changes and compromises, always trusting that macOS would remain reliable for professional workflows.

With macOS 26 (Tahoe), however, Apple has broken or removed several fundamental features that professionals rely on every single day:

1. Finder Sidebar regression
   • Until macOS 25, you could pin a network share (SMB/AFP) to the Finder sidebar.
   • Clicking on it would re-mount the share, even if it was disconnected.
   • In macOS 26, sidebar entries only point to currently mounted volumes. If the share is disconnected, you just get an error.
   • What used to be one click is now four clicks. For anyone working with NAS or SAN storage daily, this is a huge regression.
2. Network service order ignored
   • System Settings still allows prioritizing Ethernet over Wi-Fi.
   • But at startup, macOS 26 mounts network volumes via Wi-Fi, even though Ethernet is first in the list.
   • Expected: volumes should mount on the highest-priority active interface.
   • Result: slower, unstable connections to NAS at boot – a basic networking bug.
3. Wacom input failure
   • On macOS 26, Wacom tablets fail to interact with certain UI elements (System Settings panes, notifications, even Calculator buttons).
   • The click animation is visible, but nothing happens.
   • Same hardware + same drivers work fine on macOS 25. This is clearly a macOS regression.

Meanwhile, Apple keeps adding cosmetic features (new emojis, UI gimmicks), while breaking the core tools that working professionals actually need.

This is not about nostalgia. It’s about fundamental workflows that make macOS usable in professional environments. Apple still markets macOS as a “pro platform”, but the direction feels more like TikTok toys than production reliability.



I’ve filed detailed reports in Feedback Assistant, but I’d like to know:

• Are others here seeing the same issues?
• Has anyone found reliable workarounds (esp. for Finder sidebar remounts)?
• Do we think Apple will address this in 26.1 / 26.2, or is this another Mac Pro 7,1 situation?

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👉 If you rely on network storage, service order, or Wacom tablets in your workflow – please share your experience. The more noise we make, the harder it is for Apple to ignore that pros still exist.

 

[turbineseaplane]

This is my kind of post and nicely highlights why I'm not "upgrading" from Sequoia anytime soon.

These are real, tangible, workflow related downgrades.

 

[ArtRev]

This is my kind of post and nicely highlights why I'm not "upgrading" from Sequoia anytime soon.

These are real, tangible, workflow related downgrades.

Yeah, don’t worry – I didn’t put Tahoe on my main work machine. This was just a test install to see what kind of trouble it brings for pro workflows.

Day-to-day I’m still on Sequoia. Just thought it’s worth pointing out the regressions early so people know what they’re getting into.

 

[TumbleDryer]

I too am a professional (designer) that's used Macs since the late 90s. Ever since Snow Leopard MacOS has gone backwards with regards to professional users. Everything now is about fluff and gimmicks instead of sitting down and looking at how people actually use the system and making it better (more efficient with less bugs).

Now its all about emoji, animations, Liquid Glass, sign up to Apple Music, stage manager, new trash icon, sign up to Apple Music, dark mode, light mode, sign up to Apple Music, 'cool' new wallpapers and signing up to Apple Music. None of which make working with the system better. I just want to get my work done. They need to sit down and lower click counts for everything. Don't add new features AT ALL and release a version aimed at efficiency of use. Every iteration adds clicks to stuff that years ago was one or two. Now it's hidden behind 3 invisible menus that if you didn't watch the keynote you'd never know about. I spend more time googling how to do things in apple products now than I actually do being productive.

I stopped using spaces years ago as it morphed into a convoluted mess. When before it was a squeeze of the mouse and you had as many screens as you wanted to choose from now its god know what key combination and an absolute UI mess. Same with spotlight. It was very useful when first introduced now again the UI is a mess and its easier to just take a minute and remember where you put stuff.

System preferences... now 'system settings' for some pointless reason is a god awful mess of clicks, scrolling and frustration.

System wide shortcuts have been removed, networking as you point out is more convoluted/broken,

MacOS over the recent years has genuinely made me lose... sign up to Apple Music... my motivation for design and work as it's just worse with every iteration. So much so I only bought a Mac mini this time instead of upgrading (read down grading) to a 23" iMac from 27". I bought a Philips 4k monitor so Apple have lost quite a chunk of my money and potential future purchases too as they seem to think we will just happily pay an extra £1000 for a MacStudio and Apple Display when it was all contained in a 27" iMac before with £1800-£2500 my usual price point. Now they want £1500 just for the display plus £2000 base Studio haha. Nope. They are slowly pushing me (and MANY others I know) away as a professional users and with this Tahoe update I feel I've just been violently shoved a little closer to the door.

 

[ArtRev]

MacOS w ostatnich latach naprawdę sprawił, że straciłem... zarejestruj się w Apple Music... moja motywacja do projektowania i pracy, ponieważ jest coraz gorzej z każdą iteracją. Tak bardzo, że tym razem kupiłem tylko Maca mini, zamiast uaktualnić (czytaj ocenę w dół) do 23-calowego iMaca z 27". Kupiłem monitor Philips 4k, więc Apple straciło sporo moich pieniędzy i potencjalnych przyszłych zakupów, ponieważ wydają się myśleć, że z radością zapłacimy dodatkowe 1000 funtów za MacStudio i Apple Display, gdy wszystko było zawarte w 27-calowym iMacu wcześniej z 1800-2500 funtów, moja zwykła cena. Teraz chcą 1500 funtów tylko za wyświetlacz plus 2000 funtów podstawowe studio haha. Nie. Powoli odpychają mnie (i WIELE innych, których znam) jako profesjonalnych użytkowników, a dzięki tej aktualizacji Tahoe czuję, że właśnie zostałem brutalnie wepchnięty trochę bliżej drzwi.

You’re absolutely right. The sad truth is that professional users – the ones who used to be Apple’s core base in video, music, design, graphics – have now become a niche. Most Macs today are bought by Starbucks dwellers, TikTok/Instagram/YouTube creators, and casual users.

Back in the 90s and early 2000s, it was the pros who kept the Mac alive. People like me just needed tools that worked, so we could focus on creative work instead of fighting the machine. That loyalty carried Apple through the hard times.

But once sales exploded, Apple became a global consumer brand. And I get it – they need to build products for their huge new audience. That’s fine. I just wish they would still devote some attention to users like us. Even if they don’t give us new pro features, at least don’t break or remove the tools that have worked perfectly for years.

After the GPU upgrade fiasco with the Mac Pro 7,1 I told myself I’d never buy another Mac… but then I did: Mac Studio, Mac mini. Still, this Tahoe release feels like such a slap in the face that my next workstation may very well be a PC – at least there, I know what to expect.

 

[turbineseaplane]

This thread of bugs and issues is really something.

Niki Tonsky (@nikitonsky@mastodon.online)

Attached: 1 image So I looked at Tahoe release (in VM). Some highlights: - Window toolbar changing color from white to black for no reason

mastodon.online

 

[Ethosik]

Network service order ignored

• System Settings still allows prioritizing Ethernet over Wi-Fi.
• But at startup, macOS 26 mounts network volumes via Wi-Fi, even though Ethernet is first in the list.
• Expected: volumes should mount on the highest-priority active interface.
• Result: slower, unstable connections to NAS at boot – a basic networking bug.

Hasn't this always been an issue? I never could get my 10Gb or even my 25Gb networking working for my NAS if I want them mounted at login if I kept my Wifi connected. I have permanently forgot my wifi network on my Mac Studio due to this reason and I did so when I first noticed this since the 2019 Mac Pro.

 

[!!!]

I made a post a while back about how using my NAS in Sequoia causes my machine to lock up. Sometimes I feel like Apple's handling of network shares is some very poor attempt at getting users to buy more internal storage. Same with how poor external drives have been handled, with the constant "can't be unmounted" errors.

Network service order ignored

Macs are an afterthought compared to iPhones, which are wireless only. Desktop macs are an afterthought compared to the MacBooks, which are Apple's most popular Mac lineups. Who knows, maybe next year they'll just completely break ethernet.

 

[thebart]

I'm able to drag anl SMB folder to the sidebar. It stays after a reboot. SMB has always been flaky on the Mac, though. I have an applescript that remounts the SMB share on wake after a delay if it's not there.

I have wifi off since my mini is always wired. No wacom tablet.

PS: Did they widen the vertical spacing on the sidebar?

 

[DankeBrutus]

In macOS 26, sidebar entries only point to currently mounted volumes. If the share is disconnected, you just get an error.

That doesn't even make sense. How does the functionality change between OS updates? It already works how it should in Sequoia.

SMB has always been flaky on the Mac, though. I have an applescript that remounts the SMB share on wake after a delay if it's not there.

Yet Apple killed AFP lol. Apparently Apple uses their own implementation of SMB. If only they'd smarten up and use Samba. SMB performance on my Steam Deck puts macOS to shame on Wi-Fi. Only my mini outperforms the Deck because it's wired, but if I use a dock the Steam Deck still performs better reading & writing with my storage server.

NFS isn't even a proper alternative, at least for me. I have a Raspberry Pi 4 that I serve a 4TB HDD with over NFS and on Wi-Fi or wired the performance on macOS is pretty good. It is better than SMB with all the concessions to macOS in the `smb.conf` file. On my other two Linux machines with UFW and allowing for the ports NFS4 uses I can't get either my MacBook or Mac mini to connect at all. I tried for several hours to get it working with zero success. The second I tried on a Linux machine it worked flawlessly. It's difficult for me to conclude anything other than it is something going on with macOS that is causing problems. Even if it did work you can't use Time Machine, officially at least, with NFS.