Apple's macOS 26 "Tahoe" Introduces Floating, Transparent "Liquid Glass" UI

[AleksandarK]

Apple has planned a major redesign in the upcoming macOS 26 "Tahoe," featuring a bold new interface built around what the company calls Liquid Glass. This translucent material appears throughout the system, giving controls, navigation bars, app icons, and widgets a fresh, modern feel. Some may remember Windows Vista's translucent design philosophy. The most noticeable change is a clear menu bar and a redesigned Dock that seems to float above your desktop. Apple says this makes your screen feel more spacious. Toolbars and sidebars have been softened with rounded corners and will automatically adjust their size to fit your content. On iPhone and iPad, tab bars shrink as you scroll down to help you focus on what's important, and in macOS Tahoe, sidebars subtly reflect your wallpaper so you always know where you are.

Liquid Glass is more than just a pretty look. It reacts in real-time to light and dark modes, and specular highlights shift as you move windows or your cursor. This effect is powered by advanced rendering techniques that Apple's engineers developed in collaboration with its design team. Apple is also stepping up its efforts to make the Mac a real gaming platform. A new Apple Games app will help you find and launch titles, manage friends lists, and stay in touch without leaving the game, thanks to a built-in game overlay. Developers will be able to use Metal 4, which includes Frame Interpolation and Denoising features, to deliver smoother frame rates. Other improvements and shortcuts leverage on-device AI for more complex tasks. macOS 26 Tahoe will be available as a developer beta today, with a public beta next month and a full release in the fall. It will run on all Apple Silicon Macs from 2020 onward, as well as select Intel models back to 2019.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Chomiq]

I don't hate it but the biggest problem I see is their entire concept of "Designed for devices with curved edges" fails on desktop OS where every monitor has square edges.

 

[AleksandarK]

I don't hate it but the biggest problem I see is their entire concept of "Designed for devices with curved edges" fails on desktop OS where every monitor has square edges.

Apple's laptops are eqipped with curved edges.

 

[wNotyarD]

I don't hate it but the biggest problem I see is their entire concept of "Designed for devices with curved edges" fails on desktop OS where every monitor has square edges.

Sounds like an opportunity for Apple to release a new Studio Display, or at least a new iMac.

Apple's laptops are eqipped with curved edges.

Yes, but many still connect their MacBooks to external displays.

 

[londiste]

Curved corners, transparency effects. That is pretty reminiscent of Aero Glass somehow

 

[Macro Device]

We wanted more transparency from Apple but they brought us the wrong one.

 

[R0H1T]

Curved corners, transparency effects. That is pretty reminiscent of Aero Glass somehow

It's practically a copycat, although I also remember aero themes for XP or was it some themes patched with Vista's aero effects

Glass based themes have been a staple on Windows for two decades now if not more!

 

[bonehead123]

"A Rose by any other name"

 

[Aquinus]

Yes, but many still connect their MacBooks to external displays.

+1. My Macbook Pro is in clamshell mode 95% of the time connected to three external monitors.

as well as select Intel models back to 2019.

This sounds like the last MacOS update my 2019 16" Macbook Pro is going to get. I'm really not looking forward to replacing it. Finding a comparable Macbook Pro with 64GB of ram costs a pretty penny, not to mention storage upgrades cost an insane amount.

 

[R0H1T]

This sounds like the last MacOS update my 2019 16" Macbook Pro is going to get. I'm really not looking forward to replacing it. Finding a comparable Macbook Pro with 64GB of ram costs a pretty penny, not to mention storage upgrades cost an insane amount.

Part of the reason they've bow upgraded the "iPad" OS, because QC's almost caught up to their Mxx chips in the tablet space & other ARM chips are likely going to kick some serious a$$ within the next year or two!

Unless the sheeple are going to continue to bankrupt themselves over those insane NAND/DRAM upgrades I'd expect Apple to mend their ways hopefully soon enough

Most of their products are great but Apple's pathological need to make upgrades insanely expensive is just beyond ridiculous.

 

[lemonadesoda]

Massive memory requirements - naturally bringing older models to a crawl.

App Icons have been crafted with multiple layers of liquid glass, tints, and clear

Remember the days when icons were 8x8 then 16x16 then 32x32 bitmaps. Now they are 256x256xn multi-layer deep memory monsters. Each icon is going to be multi MB each. OK, if you have memory and comp power to abuse. Just so far away from my 8-bit heritage. Just one icon requires more memory than a whole computer of yesterday. PacMan, Galaxians, Defender, all those 8bit wonders in 8K or 16K. Now one icon requires 100x the memory of games we spent HOURS enjoying. I'm feeling older.

 

[Aquinus]

Unless the sheeple are going to continue to bankrupt themselves over those insane NAND/DRAM upgrades I'd expect Apple to mend their ways hopefully soon enough!

I wouldn't count on it and this doesn't just apply to just Apple. Look at all the people willing to do the same thing over a nVidia card. People hate the nVidia and Apple tax, but it doesn't stop them from buying their products. That's what happens when you have best-in-class products.

 

[R0H1T]

Yes but what I'm counting on is Physics, although we've heard this about a decade or half back as well.

Eventually the top end chips are gonna cost an astronomical amount & if you want more sales you'll probably have to lower margins, again assuming a lot of other things fall in place for normal consumers.

 

[Tomorrow]

Skeuomorphic is back baby. Somehow i think MS will inevitably copy this for Win 12.

 

[Caring1]

Skeuomorphic is back baby. Somehow i think MS will inevitably copy this for Win 12.

It's not copying if they already had it, it's reintroducing.

 

[Tomorrow]

It's not copying if they already had it, it's reintroducing.

What goes around, comes around. It was inevitable that at some point skeuomorphic will come back. Im guessing we will be back to flat 2D in 2030's then. Something that i hate.

 

[wNotyarD]

What goes around, comes around. It was inevitable that at some point skeuomorphic will come back. Im guessing we will be back to flat 2D in 2030's then. Something that i hate.

Designers have to justify their paycheck somehow.

 

[WhateverAnotherFreakingID]

 

[ymdhis]

The only good thing I see about this is that other companies tend to copy Apple, so it may mean we'll get the Aero designs back in Windows.

 

[unwind-protect]

Isn't glass technically always a liquid?

 

[ZoneDymo]

Windows Vista....

 

[Baba]

View attachment 403249

The middle one I can relate to. MacOS updates were free starting in 2013.

 

[aktpu]

View attachment 403249

Since that picture was made Apple has switched to free OS updates (unless you have to buy new hardware)

Otherwise: Welcome back Vista Aero

 

[Baba]

Ever since getting a MacBook Pro, I haven't touched my Windows PC other than to game. That Start button needs to go. Launchpad is a much better option to quickly get to an app. Way before I even knew about the MacOS, I pinned all my frequently used applications to the taskbar and had shortcuts to files on my desktop. Unbeknownst to me, I've been mimicking MacOS layout. This is the way.

 

[unwind-protect]

The middle one I can relate to. MacOS updates were free starting in 2013.

They are free, but mostly unwelcome. It's more a "oh no, I have to swallow that pill to get security updates".