Tahoe looks so bad I am about to give up Macs altogether

[innerproduct]

I have still not "updated" to Tahoe since I get downright aggressive when thinking about those rounded corners. That might sound like a borderline crazy thing, but to me it indicates that Apples totally lost their collective sense of design and general thinking.
For phones I do not care much and iPads are only useful for media consumption and drawing anyway so if they want to waste that overpowered chip on drawing wobbly simulated water/glass I guess it is ok. But on the Mac I actually do stuff and need performance and the OS to stay in the background. So for the first time in 20+ years I have not "updated" and still sit on Sequoia which works good enough. I mean, it was of course fun when OS X with Aqua was a new thing , it was also slow as hell and wasted space, but this thing is not even consistent it its implementation.
I really hope that Mac OS 27 brings back sanity. I would be ok with the default looking like children's toys so that the brain-rot crowd can make their AI-slop, but please let at least allow for a "pro" look with normalized, more square corners that let the content be front and center.
Is there hope? anything in 26.3 or 26.4 that point in any way towards fixes?

 

[fisherking]

I have still not "updated" to Tahoe since I get downright aggressive when thinking about those rounded corners. That might sound like a borderline crazy thing

not liking rounded corners, and abandoning the platform because of that? hmmm. i use an OS because of how it works, how it supports the apps i need (and personally, i look at the content in windows, not the corners of windows)...

 

[kitKAC]

Couldn't this of been posted in any of the existing Tahoe threads? Nothing new is being said here.

 

[MBAir2010]

innerproduct​

don't give up on 
revert as I did to Monterey or stay with Sequoia since I have a feeling they know Tahoe is a dud.

I have a sense that this thread will b' removed or moved soon.

 

[maflynn]

Odd, but different strokes for different folks. I installed ipadOS 26 on my iPad and I was expecting the worst - if what was being said here on Macrumors was to be believed. It actually was pretty good. I moved on to iOS 26 and I use that a lot more then my iPad and I can see a lot of rough edge, lack of polish but the bones are good, i.e., its a solid OS and its been very good.

I installed macOS on my Studio, out of the three apple operating systems (ipados, ios, and macos), its by far the best experience. The liquid glass isn't bad, the round corners are different but not bad. With 26.3 being released soon, I'd say stick with it, as apple incrementally improves the OS

I have still not "updated" to Tahoe since I get downright aggressive when thinking about those rounded corners. That might sound like a borderline crazy thing, but to me it indicates that Apples totally lost their collective sense of design and general thinking.

I think you're overly worked up about something that isn't really a big deal and 5 minutes of using the OS, you'll not even notice those rounded corners.

I've been fairly harsh with Apple over liquid glass, and I think early betas had it the worst of it, but they've dialed it back, and tweaked the UI. There's certainly some areas that I'm not happy about but overall its fine. I get what youre coming from, but on the other hand, using it day in and day out, I don't think its as bad so many people here make it out to be.

 

[dmr727]

I haven't been happy with the changes either. It's like Apple is missing its prior focus. Maybe too many cooks in the kitchen, I dunno. But as bad as it's getting, Windows is getting worse even more rapidly, and while Linux scratches my nerdy itches, it's got a host of problems of its own. So I have to rely on the hope that Apple will slowly get its crap together with each point release. @maflynn has me thinking that'll I'll finally pull the trigger on Tahoe with 26.3. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

not liking rounded corners, and abandoning the platform because of that? hmmm. i use an OS because of how it works, how it supports the apps i need (and personally, i look at the content in windows, not the corners of windows)...

There's no need for the passive-aggressiveness. If the OP believes that the GUI infringes on their work, then that is their belief.

 

[Sippincider]

Not defending Apple, but what are you going to switch to? Windows 11?

(A platform that would be seeing mass exodus if there was a dominant Linux alternative.)

Myself, I'll deal with the recent head-scratching UI decisions. It's the support that matters; the UI will be tweaked to something else soon enough.

 

[maflynn]

It's like Apple is missing its prior focus.

the problem I had and still do, is that for Tahoe, Liquid Glass is the major feature, there's no other feature that was marketed as the major reason to upgrade and yet they completely missed the boat on it - so much so that they've been dialing back the transparency since the beta.

Still, I find the OS quite usable, my apps work find, I don't mind the new rounded edges.

When it was first announced I really thought liquid glass was some sort of return or homage to Aqua, but its not

 

[jz0309]

I updated to Tahoe a day or 2 after release, it looks pretty much the same to me as before, all my apps just work and my computer continues to be a useful tool for me … YMMV

 

[PotentPeas]

Is there hope? anything in 26.3 or 26.4 that point in any way towards fixes?

26.3 is largely a bugfix release. The mid-year ".4" release is typically when Apple introduces the most changes. I doubt they'll do much with the UI design other than some minor tweaks, though.

I personally haven't upgraded yet but it is more out of concerns over functional issues than visual issues. Though I agree, the big corner radius seems wasteful, and it's especially obnoxious that it is inconsistent (not all apps have the same corner radius).

I do have hope that they'll make some notable improvements for macOS 27, announced at WWDC (...a whole five months away...). I don't expect them to radically change course and drop Liquid Glass, but surely they can tidy it up.

Right now, I have no idea if or when I will upgrade to Tahoe. But I am thinking that it won't be with 26.3. I'm enjoying the stability of where Sequoia is at now and I don't want to have to figure out a new pile of issues. I may well wait until next September and upgrade to 26.7 when macOS 27 is out. Or maybe I will skip 26 entirely for 27, depending on how that ends up shaking out.

 

[Bazza1]

While i have a M2 Mini (running 26.x) as my daily driver, I still have a 2017 Intel Air (the last year with all the ports) for work / travel / occasional laptop use. Its running Monterey. While obviously slower, it also has a majority of the apps I have on my M2 and is still capable of doing a majority of the things I want / need to do on MacOS. Without unnecessary built-in 'Squirrel!" apps or GUI tweaks that don't actually do anything.

Oh, I'm sure we all complained about some unnecessary foibles of Monterey at the time, but it does force one to ask Apple - when comparing the two OSs, "Why?" Are there true improvements here, or are the yearly updates simply to satisfy stakeholders with consumer churn?

 

[sarcasticgamer]

Well it is a free market…

 

[TracerAnalog]

I have still not "updated" to Tahoe since I get downright aggressive when thinking about those rounded corners. That might sound like a borderline crazy thing, but to me it indicates that Apples totally lost their collective sense of design and general thinking.
For phones I do not care much and iPads are only useful for media consumption and drawing anyway so if they want to waste that overpowered chip on drawing wobbly simulated water/glass I guess it is ok. But on the Mac I actually do stuff and need performance and the OS to stay in the background. So for the first time in 20+ years I have not "updated" and still sit on Sequoia which works good enough. I mean, it was of course fun when OS X with Aqua was a new thing , it was also slow as hell and wasted space, but this thing is not even consistent it its implementation.
I really hope that Mac OS 27 brings back sanity. I would be ok with the default looking like children's toys so that the brain-rot crowd can make their AI-slop, but please let at least allow for a "pro" look with normalized, more square corners that let the content be front and center.
Is there hope? anything in 26.3 or 26.4 that point in any way towards fixes?

'You're so dark... are you sure you are not from the DC universe?' - Deadpool

Lighten up and wait around. This will work out in the future. It's not as if Windows is a joy to work with...

 

[marinersaptcomplex]

Most of my workflows are web-based, so Tahoe has been smooth from a usability standpoint for me, so I suppose I have nothing to complain about, really…but, the continued forcing of MacOS to look like a ported over iOS has become annoying. Does every app icon really need to be a squircle? And every window corner rounded to within an inch of its life? I wish we could go back to a modernized Catalina style UI.

 

[JMalone]

Yes its got a lot of **** going on and I expect them to undo that **** in October (not including the beta testing months)

 

[sw1tcher]

I installed macOS on my Studio, out of the three apple operating systems (ipados, ios, and macos), its by far the best experience. The liquid glass isn't bad, the round corners are different but not bad. With 26.3 being released soon, I'd say stick with it, as apple incrementally improves the OS

It says a lot when the best thing someone can say about Liquid Glass is that it "isn't bad"

 

[cutlub]

The only app that broke me from updating my other Macs is the Music app. It's unreal how unintuitive and cumbersome they made it. Placing the minuscule playhead at the bottom, covering up songs beneath it as you scroll, and leaving the top of the app virtually blank. There is also no way to quickly access the playhead or volume. I apologize if this has been said a thousand times before, but it is so bad that I am keeping my other Macs on Sequoia.

 

[aespana]

I installed Tahoe and 2 days later, went back to Sequoia.

I know that the system should just work and that's all but everything goes to our eyes first. If you don't like the interface, you won't work comfortable. Tahoe and that Liquid Glass is just horrible (same with iOS).

 

[cateye]

There's no need for the passive-aggressiveness. If the OP believes that the GUI infringes on their work, then that is their belief.

++ I've avoided Tahoe on my Macs because they are 100 percent work machines only. That's all I use them for, to get work done for my business. I'm not going to launch into some kind of TED Talk about how Liquid Glass is empirically counter to the needs of my work, but personally I find it beat-it-with-a-stick ugly, and the rounded corners in particular a ridiculous affectation. I don't want to look at it all day, and prefer the relative blandness of what came before it. So I'm avoiding Tahoe until either Apple fixes it, or something better arrives, or I need to upgrade due to the requirements of my workflow. And if that point arrives, I'll pull up my big boy pants and deal with it.

I don't really care what anyone else does. Whatever serves your needs and wants the best—do so in good health. But oh, the defensiveness. The emotional boner some people need to carry toward Apple makes it neigh impossible to just say "you know what? No. I don't want this" without having your motivations picked apart.

 

[djcerla]

You’ll be back screaming

 

[maflynn]

It says a lot when the best thing someone can say about Liquid Glass is that it "isn't bad"

I'm not denying that. The promise of the new UI was supposed to be revolutionary but its execution was extremely poor, and that's not including the UI inconsistencies

But when you peal away the hyperbole, and stop pixel peeping you see its not bad experience imo

 

[fisherking]

There's no need for the passive-aggressiveness. If the OP believes that the GUI infringes on their work, then that is their belief.

and there's no need to start another (pointless) argument with me; it's tiresome, and we've derailed several other threads already.

i am entitled to my opinions, just as you are 🤷

 

[ForkHandles]

When I use my Mac I do things!

Spreadsheets for my accounts, Pages for my letters, Mail for my email, iMovie for editing my movies, Photos for my ….. photos . You get the drift.

I really don’t have enough time, energy or interest to notice the radius on the corners or of someone has made the icons different.

Can I suggest you probably don’t need a Mac?

 

[iHorseHead]

I think Tahoe looks amazing + so does iOS.