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WWDC 2025: What to Expect From macOS 26 Tahoe

I'm hoping there will be a single switch setting for turning off translucency across the board. The article's two images of vision OS, while they may look "cool", show the bleed-through that can interfere with the user's ability to distinguish foreground from background.
 
LeeW said:
Stay in one lane, fix the bugs quicker and leave it be for a few years once it works. This constant change, with new bugs that will take months to fix if they are ever fixed, is tiring.
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My music composer side applauds this suggestion as plugin libraries are notoriously slow at updating their libraries to work with new versions of macOS
 
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AusMness said:
Oh but they do, and the mass confusion that'll uprise when iOS 19, 20 ... 25, macOS 16, 17 ... 25, watchOS 12, 13 ... 25, and visionOS 3, 4 ... 25 all just vanish overnight will just be a very easily avoidable problem. You have to remember millions of different people use these things.

There's no clear indication these things are named off the year. When I first read the headline with this rumour I had no idea it was representative of the year. It just seemed like a random number. That'll be a problem.

Several generations of each Apple device line will sound like they have been supported for a different length of time longer than others. iPhone 8: iOS 11 - 16. iPhone 11: iOS 13 - 26? How on earth was the Apple Watch Series 5 supported for 5 years from watchOS 6 to 10 where the Series 6 lasted 20 years from watchOS 7 to 26?

People who use a single Apple device will also have no idea why their software update is telling them to update to a version from ten years in the future.

This is such a bad idea on so many levels and I hope Gurman is the idiot here, not Apple.
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It’s REALLY not as complicated as you’re making it. Nobody will even bat an eye. They’ll update and keep it moving. It’s just not this serious.
 
Mity said:
Stick with a design language for at least 3 years!!! I don't need a new OS every year. I want stability and a focus on bug fixing. It's fine to have updates that add new features but this whole UI change is just stupid. That goes for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, everything!
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Only Steve Jobs could make such a decision.

It means saying no to new features and then all these mid MBAs inside Apple won't get their bonuses, KPIs and OKRs.

Personally, OS X is great, and of all new features introduced in the past 20 years I've found less than 5% useful. 95% is stuff I never use.

At this point a round of bugfixing would be great. For example, search in settings is completely broken. File search also seems broken. Security features are clunky - could be smoother.

Other than that... I haven't had my system crash in so many years... My M1 Pro Macbook has never had a crash. So Apple is doing something right - OS X is a beast.

I would like more control to curb background processes running all over doing things I don't want or need - if you enable lockdown mode, it shuts down a lot of background services - 99% of which you've never heard of like automatic network discovery of ... ??? something. All potential security holes.
 
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Elohim369 said:
Other than that... I haven't had my system crash in so many years... My M1 Pro Macbook has never had a crash. So Apple is doing something right - OS X is a beast.
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My M1 Macbook Pro Max, with 64GB of RAM, crashed recently for about the first time I can remember, when I loaded up Chrome with close to 900 tabs over the course of about a week (I got lazy). So it can be done, but maybe Chrome has to be the tool used to do it.
 
I have to think at some point Siri will be so deeply connected to the OS we’ll be unable to turn it off - as happened with Notification Center, etc.
 
Elohim369 said:
Only Steve Jobs could make such a decision.

It means saying no to new features and then all these mid MBAs inside Apple won't get their bonuses, KPIs and OKRs.

Personally, OS X is great, and of all new features introduced in the past 20 years I've found less than 5% useful. 95% is stuff I never use.

At this point a round of bugfixing would be great. For example, search in settings is completely broken. File search also seems broken. Security features are clunky - could be smoother.

Other than that... I haven't had my system crash in so many years... My M1 Pro Macbook has never had a crash. So Apple is doing something right - OS X is a beast.

I would like more control to curb background processes running all over doing things I don't want or need - if you enable lockdown mode, it shuts down a lot of background services - 99% of which you've never heard of like automatic network discovery of ... ??? something. All potential security holes.
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Totally agree. Things were a lot easier to do pre-10.12. All of this secure enclave, read only OS and Library etc. are a PITA for any sort of under the hood tinkering.
 
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Not sure why Apple keeps giving names to its macOS versions. Just macOS 26 would be fine, like iOS 26, iPadOS 26, etc.
 
cjsuk said:
As a windows user as well, using Windows 11 is like riding a drunk horse across a field covered in landmines. My god it is the most unstable, unreliable nagging turd in the history of time. I have so many issues and abandoned little corners it's unreal. Even notepad has CoPilot shovelled into it now. It's just literally like a scrap heap of marketing direction changes spanning 25 years. Nothing is finished and nothing works properly.

As for features, I'm not sure that's even comparable. Microsoft don't even ship basic apps that work properly these days. Outlook for example is a broken pile of Electron garbage that doesn't work properly offline and steals your credentials and does everything in the cloud. Todo is buggy as hell. At best if you take a Windows 11 LTSC build and throw third party software on top you might get somewhere but it's all cranky stuff that's never been refined.

A very simple cases which are a good reminder of how bad windows is:

If I add a contact on my mac, it's on my phone. Microsoft can't even get that working with outlook and Android or iOS, even if you pay them. It has been 35 years since I started using windows and they haven't nailed this down yet. I've had that on macOS for at least 15 years.

And then there's other simple stuff like being able to open a PDF and read it without having to navigate either some crap plugged into Edge or Adobe (which is painful) or some dodgy as hell PDF reader written by someone who has absolutely no idea about user interface design.

While macOS might not run Dassault Catia or something, most of the stuff I actually use and need daily just works.

macOS is certainly not without flaws but anyone coming here saying stuff like this doesn't have a leg to stand on. Microsoft stuff is pretty much garbage these days. And that hurts because I would really rather use Windows really if this stuff worked on it. But it doesn't. And I value my time and energy more than any brand loyalty. Apple respect that at least a little bit.
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I'm not saying Windows is perfect. No OS is. But I've been using Windows since the 1990s, it has improved tremendously and is now just as good as macOS overall, and actually better in many respects. I use it extensively at home and work alike, and hardly have any problem with it. Not even Windows '98, back in the day, gave me half the frustration and issues you're reporting. Windows may not please all users, and definitely not you, but it pleases enough people and entities in the world that it's still the leading desktop OS. And I don't think all these people and entities are stupid.
The question is this: if you think Windows is as apocalyptic as you claim it to be, and if macOS satisfies your needs, then why do you keep using Windows after 35 years? Before talking about other people standing on their legs, maybe you should stop riding drunk horses and use your own legs to walk.
 
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Big_D said:
The problem is, Microsoft is giving you a new OS nearly every month, or at least adding features, removing features, renaming them and moving them around the interface at a whim, on a monthly cadence. The monthly security updates now include a lucky-dip feature change as well.

Copilot has moved places, changed size, had its keyboard shortcut changed multiple times over the last 12 months. Sometimes it is a bit lozenge on the taskbar, sometimes it is a little icon, sometimes it is next to the start menu, sometimes it is on the right, next to the status information, you need to press Win+C to call it up, then Alt+Space (rendering the window menu unreachable in an emergency, when the window isn't on the screen), now it is back to Win+C with the latest update.
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I've been using Windows 11 for over a year, including Copilot, and haven't noticed any significant or annoying change. I personally like the taskbar to be clear of app icons and search space, and Windows lets me tweak pretty much everything I want so I did that and it worked just fine. My 18 favorite/usual apps, including Copilot, are all easily accessible in the Start window menu and Windows hasn't moved anything around in that regard, as far as I'm concerned. Same experience with 10 and previous versions.
Unlike macOS, Windows is very versatile: don't hesitate to change and move things to your liking. When you first use the OS, if you don't like the default presentation (say, grouped and centered icons in the taskbar), just change it. That's the first thing I did when I switched from 10 to 11. Copilot? The way you access it sounds complicated. Just remove it from the taskbar, add it to your Start menu's favorites, and it'll always show up there. In my opinion, it's also easier to use the mouse than remember keycodes (Win+C, Alt+Space, etc.).
 
Jeeve Stubbs said:
I've been using Windows 11 for over a year, including Copilot, and haven't noticed any significant or annoying change. I personally like the taskbar to be clear of app icons and search space, and Windows lets me tweak pretty much everything I want so I did that and it worked just fine. My 18 favorite/usual apps, including Copilot, are all easily accessible in the Start window menu and Windows hasn't moved anything around in that regard, as far as I'm concerned. Same experience with 10 and previous versions.
Unlike macOS, Windows is very versatile: don't hesitate to change and move things to your liking. When you first use the OS, if you don't like the default presentation (say, grouped and centered icons in the taskbar), just change it. That's the first thing I did when I switched from 10 to 11. Copilot? The way you access it sounds complicated. Just remove it from the taskbar, add it to your Start menu's favorites, and it'll always show up there. In my opinion, it's also easier to use the mouse than remember keycodes (Win+C, Alt+Space, etc.).
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This is not about customisation, I turn everything off on my Windows devices (I am an IT manager in a Windows environment, with nearly 40 years experience).

What I was pointing out was the standard configuration for Windows 11 in the last 12 months. If you want to see more about that, check out Thurrott.com, Paul goes very deeply into how Microsoft has been messing around with Windows lately. He finds the changes very quickly and they are painful for him as he writes books about using Windows and he has to update screenshots and text on a near monthly basis at the moment.
 
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AgeOfSpiracles said:
Meh, I have always liked transparency in a desktop UI. Maybe I'm just a simpleton, but Win7/Vista aero glass was cool, heck even all the way back in the day messing around with Enlightenment on Linux. It's an aesthetic, but it's one that I like... as opposed to the page flipping crap.
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Depends if you're using a Mac for internet surfing or if you have work to do. As for me, my terminal windows have a grain of transparency - but it is so little that it doesn't distract. All the photographers want a user interface that doesn't interfere with picture/video editing.

If you want to see a really nice user interface, have a look at the vanilla gnome 48. I'm stunned. Working with it feels awesome and with e.g. "dash to panel" you get your floating dock. I would say it is even better than the Mac and it continues to improve in a fast was - with 48 own fonts were introduced, super smooth triple buffering.
The only thing really holding me back from a complete switch are some missing applications.

Apple needs a new CEO, urgent.
 
Elohim369 said:
Only Steve Jobs could make such a decision.

It means saying no to new features and then all these mid MBAs inside Apple won't get their bonuses, KPIs and OKRs.

Personally, OS X is great, and of all new features introduced in the past 20 years I've found less than 5% useful. 95% is stuff I never use.

At this point a round of bugfixing would be great. For example, search in settings is completely broken. File search also seems broken. Security features are clunky - could be smoother.

Other than that... I haven't had my system crash in so many years... My M1 Pro Macbook has never had a crash. So Apple is doing something right - OS X is a beast.

I would like more control to curb background processes running all over doing things I don't want or need - if you enable lockdown mode, it shuts down a lot of background services - 99% of which you've never heard of like automatic network discovery of ... ??? something. All potential security holes.
Click to expand...

There is a general attitude of the consumer being the beta tester, which needs to stop. How are not able to set our own wallpaper color in Sequoia 15.4: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/15-4-wallpaper-bug.2454397/

If I highlight and Google something in the Mail app, it opens in Safari instead of my default browser, Chrome.

I cannot set a shortcut behavior for all AirPods. They have to be set for a particular pair. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ios-shortcut-for-multiple-airpods.2457699/

There are so many others issues BTW. It's true that the people have incentives to create updates just to take credit for something but Tim Cook is the CEO and has the authority to block any changes. He's mostly focused on capital allocation and really doesn't have the product person mentality. That works when things are going well but not when sales start to falter. He was the right choice for CEO after jobs to keep the company from straying from Job's roadmap but Apple is in a different dynamic now. As long has he's there, this will keep happening.
 
AndiG said:
Depends if you're using a Mac for internet surfing or if you have work to do. As for me, my terminal windows have a grain of transparency - but it is so little that it doesn't distract. All the photographers want a user interface that doesn't interfere with picture/video editing.
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Precisely. I'm not a photographer or video editor, but I do work on Mac. If something in the UI interferes with that then I either disable it or find a workaround. If it doesn't and it looks nice, then what's not to like? Your terminal example is case in point.
 
steve333 said:
Why do they think they have to make Mac OS more like iOS?
The only reason iOS is the way it is is because of screen size.
They ruined System Preferences, now they want to do that to the whole experience?
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Reminds me of Windows 10+ with it's idiotic mobile like UI with huge elements, switches, fonts etc. on desktop OS. MacOS looks great for now, lets hope it will stay so.
 
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Big_D said:
This is not about customisation, I turn everything off on my Windows devices (I am an IT manager in a Windows environment, with nearly 40 years experience).

What I was pointing out was the standard configuration for Windows 11 in the last 12 months. If you want to see more about that, check out Thurrott.com, Paul goes very deeply into how Microsoft has been messing around with Windows lately. He finds the changes very quickly and they are painful for him as he writes books about using Windows and he has to update screenshots and text on a near monthly basis at the moment.
Click to expand...
I trust you're both more expert on Windows than I am. But as an ordinary (if experienced) user, I just haven't noticed any particular annoyance or messy changes since using Windows 11. Everything seems pretty stable to me. I guess these are very specific details or background events that Paul's (or your) sharp eye sees, but that most users wouldn't even notice.
 
yellowhelicopter said:
Reminds me of Windows 10+ with it's idiotic mobile like UI with huge elements, switches, fonts etc. on desktop OS. MacOS looks great for now, lets hope it will stay so.
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the huge UI stuff is because it also tries to be a finger also interface...
 
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Jeeve Stubbs said:
Can also be useful for visually impaired users. In any case, if one didn't like 10+, they could just use 10 (duh!).
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there was such a huge push to get people to upgrade though.
even promising to allow rollback to 10... LOL

it might have some benefit for visually impaired people but that's what Accessibility options are for.
Not using them as defaults for everyone.
The huge buttons with tiny text isnt that great for vision issues either and the colours also dont help with legibility in most cases. it was basically the phonizing of desktop OS.
 
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From what I can see so far this could be a huge disaster.
I don't want my Mac to look and work like an iPhone. I want simplicity, which used to be a Mac hallmark.
Don't mess with what works and don't make things more difficult just to make it look like Tim Cook is earning his money.
 
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