Latest news with #macOS26
Geeky Gadgets
6 days ago
- Geeky Gadgets
Is macOS Tahoe Really the Best Mac Update in Years?
Apple's latest operating system, macOS 26 (Tahoe), represents a significant milestone in the evolution of macOS. With a strong emphasis on design, functionality, and seamless integration across Apple's ecosystem, this update caters to a wide range of users, from casual individuals managing daily tasks to professionals handling complex workflows. By introducing features that enhance usability, productivity, and connectivity, macOS Tahoe redefines the desktop experience while maintaining Apple's hallmark of innovation and reliability. The video below from MacRumors gives us a detailed look at the new macOS 26 and its range of features Watch this video on YouTube. Key Design Enhancements: A Blend of Style and Function The 'Liquid Glass' design serves as the centerpiece of macOS Tahoe's visual transformation. This aesthetic introduces frosted and translucent UI elements, creating a sleek and modern interface. The transparent menu bar allows your desktop wallpaper to shine, while customizable icons and widgets provide extensive options for personalization. Users can now select between clear, dark, and tinted themes to suit their preferences, offering a more tailored experience. These design updates go beyond mere aesthetics. The frosted effects and transparency deliver subtle visual cues that improve navigation and focus. By reducing visual clutter, macOS Tahoe ensures a cleaner and more intuitive user experience, making it easier to stay productive and organized. Spotlight Search: A Smarter, More Versatile Tool Spotlight Search in macOS Tahoe has been reimagined as a powerful productivity hub. The redesigned interface organizes search results into distinct categories such as apps, files, actions, and clipboard history, allowing faster and more efficient access to information. A new clipboard manager with a 24-hour history further simplifies retrieving previously copied items, saving time and effort. Spotlight now extends its functionality beyond search. Users can perform direct actions such as sending emails, setting timers, or initiating calls—all without leaving the interface. These enhancements streamline workflows, making Spotlight an indispensable tool for multitasking and improving overall efficiency. Control Center: Customization Meets Consistency The Control Center in macOS Tahoe adopts the Liquid Glass aesthetic, making sure a cohesive visual identity across Apple devices. Beyond its polished appearance, the redesigned Control Center offers greater customization options. Users can rearrange controls to prioritize frequently used features, tailoring the interface to their specific needs. Additionally, Apple has introduced support for third-party app integration within the Control Center. This opens the door to expanded functionality, allowing developers to create tools that seamlessly integrate into the macOS ecosystem. The result is a more personalized and versatile user experience that adapts to individual workflows. Phone Integration: A Unified Device Ecosystem For the first time, macOS Tahoe includes a dedicated phone app, bridging the gap between Mac and iPhone. This app enables users to make and receive calls, access voicemails, and use advanced features such as call screening and hold assist directly from their Mac. By integrating these capabilities, macOS Tahoe strengthens the connection between devices, delivering a unified and seamless experience that enhances productivity and convenience. Enhanced Productivity Tools: Smarter Everyday Apps macOS Tahoe introduces meaningful updates to its suite of productivity apps, making everyday tasks more efficient and user-friendly. Key improvements include: Reminders: Auto-categorization organizes tasks into groups like 'Today' or 'Scheduled' without requiring manual input, streamlining task management. Auto-categorization organizes tasks into groups like 'Today' or 'Scheduled' without requiring manual input, streamlining task management. Notes: Markdown export enhances compatibility with other platforms and formats, catering to technical users and professionals. Markdown export enhances compatibility with other platforms and formats, catering to technical users and professionals. Messages: Group chats now feature personalized backgrounds, polls, and typing indicators, improving communication and collaboration. Group chats now feature personalized backgrounds, polls, and typing indicators, improving communication and collaboration. Photos: Pinned collections allow quick access to favorite albums or projects, simplifying photo organization. These updates ensure that macOS Tahoe meets the diverse needs of personal and professional users alike, offering tools that adapt to a variety of workflows and preferences. Gaming Integration: Entertainment at the Forefront Gaming takes center stage in macOS Tahoe with the introduction of the Games app. This centralized hub integrates Game Center, Apple Arcade, and third-party game libraries, making it easier to access and manage gaming content. Whether you're a casual gamer or a dedicated enthusiast, these updates position macOS as a more viable platform for entertainment. The Games app also supports cross-platform play and cloud saves, making sure a seamless gaming experience across Apple devices. With improved hardware optimization and support for high-performance graphics, macOS Tahoe aims to attract a broader audience of gamers. Performance and Stability: Built for Reliability Under the hood, macOS Tahoe prioritizes performance and stability, making sure a dependable experience for all users. During beta testing, resource-intensive applications such as Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro ran smoothly, demonstrating the system's ability to handle demanding tasks. These improvements make macOS Tahoe a reliable choice for professionals engaged in video editing, software development, and other high-performance workflows. Additionally, macOS Tahoe introduces enhanced power management features, optimizing battery life for MacBooks. This ensures that users can work or play for longer periods without interruption, further solidifying the operating system's reputation for reliability and efficiency. A Balanced and Polished Update macOS Tahoe combines aesthetic innovation with practical enhancements, delivering a cohesive and polished experience. From the striking Liquid Glass design to the improved Spotlight Search and expanded app functionality, this release caters to a wide range of user needs. Whether your focus is on productivity, creativity, or entertainment, macOS Tahoe sets a new benchmark for Apple's desktop operating system, reinforcing its position as a leader in technology and user experience. Expand your understanding of macOS Tahoe with additional resources from our extensive library of articles. Source & Image Credit: MacRumors Filed Under: Apple, Laptops, Top News Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Yahoo
The first-ever AirPods public beta is here, so you can test new features before they launch – here's what you need to know
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Public beta for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 is available now Usual beta caveats apply: use at your own risk Requires iOS 26, iPadOS 26 or macOS 26 Last week, Apple opened up the public beta program for all its latest operating systems, enabling you to try out the next generation software that'll officially launch later this year. And there's a beta for the next generation of AirPods software too. That's unusual, because Apple doesn't normally issue AirPods betas, but it's available from the same place as the other betas at through the iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 public betas. We have a guide on how to install the iOS 26 beta here, if you device to try it. Should you try it? Yes, and also no. Let's start with the obligatory beta warning. Installing beta software may cause unexpected problems, give you a bad hair day and alarm your pets Beta software is unfinished software, and that means Apple takes absolutely no responsibility for anything that might go wrong. It may do weird things with some of your apps, it may have small or massive bugs, and as far as I can tell, there's no way to roll back the AirPods firmware update if you find it makes your AirPods experience worse; you'll just have to wait for Apple to fix whatever needs fixed. There's also the fact that in order to get the AirPods update, you have to install the beta of iOS 26 / iPadOS 26 / macOS 26, which has wider implications: it's strongly recommended that you don't install betas on any device that you depend on daily. If a beta makes your device completely unresponsive, can you live without it? So with that said... What's in the new AirPods beta, and what AirPods can install it? The beta is only available for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4, and AirPods 4 with ANC, presumably because all the features that require beta testing need the H2 chip that those models have. There are five key updates here: Sleep detection that can automatically pause audio when you nod off "Studio quality" voice recording Camera shutter control and video start-stop recording Smarter automatic switching with CarPlay Improved voice quality in calls Where appropriate, you'll get new options in Settings to control some of these features, for example to turn Sleep Detection on or off or to configure the camera shutter control. How to install the AirPods beta update First of all you'll need to install the iOS 26, iPadOS 26 or macOS 26 public beta from Once you've done that, open your AirPods case and let them do the usual connecting thing. If you then go to the AirPods page in Settings, you should see a message below the image of the AirPods telling you that beta software updates are available. If you skip it this time, the option will move to a Beta Updates link further down the AirPods settings. From there it's just a toggle: tap the AirPods Beta Updates button so it turns green and the update will install provided your AirPods are still nearby and connected. You might also like I've been using iOS 26 for a month – here are 3 things I love and 1 I don't Google just accused iOS 26 of copying these 3 features How to download the iOS 26 public beta
Phone Arena
25-07-2025
- Phone Arena
macOS 26 features that make Windows 11 look outdated
macOS 26 is a big, exciting refresh for Macs and MacBooks — and it's coming this fall. The update brings a beautiful new design called Liquid Glass and a bunch of small but smart changes that make the whole system feel fresh and of the coolest parts? macOS 26 works even better with your iPhone, making everything feel more connected. It's a great example of how smooth Apple's ecosystem can be.I used to lean toward Windows a few years back – but these days, it's starting to feel a bit behind compared to what Apple's been doing. Here's why. One of the biggest changes in macOS 26 is the new Liquid Glass design, which streamlines the experience with other Apple devices. Now, the dock, sidebars, and toolbars are redesigned and feature the same translucent aesthetic. Thanks to this new look, more content is shown on the screen without things getting too cluttered. There are also rounded elements and dimensionality, which make the OS look more modern. You can customize the control center in the same way as you can on an also get to choose between dark and light mode, an all-clear icon, and a dock theme, and you can even customize folder icons. On the other hand, Windows 11 does feel a bit cluttered and clunky. The Liquid Glass look on the Mac manages to make it feel more modern and color-coordinated around the translucency theme, while on Windows 11, each element seems to have its own look, in a way. Yes, you can set Dark/Lite and then a main color and the whole system changes, but we have these legacy menus, due to the way Windows is designed (on top of older versions of the same OS to an extent). These legacy menus look drastically different with the new layout. In my opinion, Windows has a lot of things going on at the same time, and I can sometimes feel drowned in all the forced colors and shade differences. The Phone app on a Mac. | Image Credit - Apple MacOS 26 brings the Phone app to the Mac. This allows for a more streamlined experience between your iPhone and MacBook. You can access recent calls and contacts synced from your iPhone, and make calls as well. This also includes the new iOS 26 features Hold Assist and Call Screening on the Mac, which makes things so much more convenient. Windows 11 does have the option for you to install the Phone Link app, and the connection between your laptop and phone is made via Bluetooth. Of course, you have to fiddle with settings to ensure smoothness, enabled 2FA, link the phone to your account, log in multiple times on both the phone and the app (and hope nothing times out while you do that) and pair the devices via Bluetooth. Or use a cable and hope the cable does what Windows wants it to do. The Phone app on a Mac is way more simple. You need to have your iCloud account signed in on both devices and bam, your Mac is connected to your iPhone, it's really that simple. In some instances, you may need to allow "Calls on Other Devices" on your iPhone, but if you're already using your Mac to pick up calls from your iPhone, you won't need to enable it specifically for the Phone app. Compared to the simplicity of the Phone app on the Mac, Windows' take is one cumbersome process. It's definitely not as seamless. Spotlight is getting seriously smart. | Image Credit - Apple MacOS 26 is also bringing smart integrations to the Spotlight feature. Now, it is no longer a simple search bar, but it's a powerful control panel that works with Shortcuts, and you can even take app-specific actions (powered by Apple Intelligence). Like, for example, Apple showed a demo during WWDC that you can adjust the color tone on a photo in a photo editing app just by searching for that function in Spotlight. And yep, this seems to include complex apps like Photoshop, where finding a specific function can be a big struggle. On top of all that, Spotlight will also contain clipboard history and allow you to create automations with Apple Intelligence . Spotlight also supports shortcut Quick keys, and you can even send messages directly from the Spotlight app itself. On the other hand, we have Windows 11 working on adding an AI assistant to the search bar to help you find what you need. We all know that if you don't know the specific name of the feature or setting that you want to find on Windows, finding it via the search bar is nearly impossible. Meanwhile, Windows Search works in such a way that it tries to catalogue everything you own to help you find it easier. The issue is that it's a background process that has its own routine, and you can see notable performance loss, seemingly out of nowhere. So a majority of Windows users know to disable "Search" as soon as they install Windows, for that main reason. On macOS? That's not required. Continuity is getting a boost with macOS 26. | Image Credit - Apple Continuity is getting a boost with macOS 26, and it's not just the Phone app. You can also now have live activities from your iPhone visible on your Mac. This includes tracking an Uber or a delivery. When you click on the live activity, you'll see iPhone Mirroring, which allows you to take action directly from your Mac. This, coupled with earlier features of macOS such as the Handoff feature, makes the experience of using both an iPhone and a Mac an even better one and absolutely game-changing. Phones are a big part of our lives, and having this seamless integration with your laptop is a huge deal. And yep, you don't need any manual pairing, fiddling with settings, or installing apps to achieve that, it's just there.
Gizmodo
24-07-2025
- Gizmodo
Apple's New Game Overlay in macOS 26 Could be So Much More
Gaming on Mac has come a long way, but if people are going to take it seriously—like, really seriously—Apple still has some work to do. The new public beta for macOS 26 and its gaming updates won't convince the naysayers, but I see it as the tipping point, and all Apple needs to do is relax for once and let the players take control. For macOS 26, Apple added a new Game Overlay and Games app. The former acts as an easy way to adjust brightness, volume, or call friends while in-game. It also has a system for achievements and leaderboards. The latter is a simple launcher for all your games while acting as a way for Apple to take an inch of real estate from Steam's dominance as a games marketplace. Game Overlay could be a strong start if it weren't so barebones. All you need to do is compare the Steam Overlay to Apple's own. Steam offers game recording, access to voice settings, playtime metrics, clocks, guides, and—most importantly—a way to enable performance monitoring. PC gamers need their FPS counter to know if they're getting a good experience. Macs have a Metal performance monitor, but it's buried under a command you have to input into Terminal (type: -g MetalForceHudEnabled -bool yes). Apple has indicated that the two features are going to remain separate. The only way you can get any performance-related metrics is with the Metal Performance HUD. It's a pain to turn off and on, and if you forget to turn it off, you'll see the FPS counter show up in apps where you don't even need it. But Apple seems to know what players want; it just doesn't show it. The Mac maker secretly updated the Metal monitor. Now it provides data on MetalFX upscaling. This software feature takes a game running at a lower resolution and boosts it to a higher resolution, all while maintaining that better performance. Apple will show what resolution you're upscaling from based on current settings. If Apple wanted to add even more details, it could copy Steam's recent update that lets you see FPS before or after frame generation, which is software that inserts generated frames between rendered frames, increasing performance. But Apple doesn't necessarily want the average Joe to know about their FPS. It feels as though it would rather restrict players to a max of 30 or 60 fps to provide a console-like experience. Macs cannot be like a PlayStation 5 or Xbox. There are too many varieties of Mac, both in the product specs and the type of chip. On PC, players have access to a massive number of different components, from various CPUs and GPUs to motherboards, RAM, and beyond. Game developers need to work extra hard to ensure their games' compatibility. Apple relies on its own hardware, most importantly its M-series processors, to maintain a cohesive ecosystem. Even then, Apple has five years' worth of silicon under its belt, going all the way back to the M1. Apple has indicated through games like Resident Evil 4 that it wants some of these titles to run well on iPad and iPhone as well as Mac. However, the expectations are different for personal computers. People have far more choices on Mac than on constrained tablets or smartphones. Apple needs people to know it's taking gaming seriously, which is why it made such a big deal of porting CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 to Mac. The game runs surprisingly well on a thin, fanless MacBook Air M4, but only after you adjust settings to turn off VSync. I had to rely on Apple's performance monitor to make sure I was getting smooth gameplay, just like I do on PC. To create any foothold in gaming, Apple needs to relax its white-knuckled grip over its ecosystem. The latest Macs are gaming-capable with chips that support enough graphics capabilities to run some demanding games. Apple's already promoted special gaming keyboards and mice, but that's not enough. Apple needs to take a chill pill, relax, and understand that players are sophisticated enough to change their own graphics settings and find a balance of frame rate and graphics for themselves.
Gizmodo
24-07-2025
- Gizmodo
Everything You Need to Try In MacOS 26 and iPadOS 26 Public Betas
You're probably already tired of the rants about Apple's Liquid Glass redesign, but that's too bad, because iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and all the other 'OS 26' updates are now in public beta, and there's a lot to unpack. You can sign up for the public beta program, though we should warn you that any beta software may introduce new glitches. If you're planning to try the beta, you should back up your important files in case something should go awry. We took some time and tested macOS 26 and iPadOS 26, so if you're on the fence about downloading those public betas, here's a rundown of all the best (and work-in-progress) features we've used so far. Despite the changes made in recent updates, we can already tell Liquid Glass will continue to be divisive. I actually enjoy the current look of it on Mac, especially how apps become translucent on the desktop when not active. I didn't have any real difficulty finding my most-used apps on the dock or finding the Play button on Apple Music. I won't miss the grey cutout for the menu bar at the top of the Mac screen, that's for sure. What may be a far more significant change is how Apple modified Launchpad. Gone is the full-screen page showing all your apps at once. Instead, you're granted a smaller, iPhone-like single window. This also displays apps connected to your iPhone, which you can open via mirroring or—in the case of a call—the new Mac Phone app. I don't disagree that Launchpad needed a facelift, but the change isn't going to help longtime Mac fans now that all their carefully laid-out folders no longer exist. The update needs more TLC to get it closer to what Mac fans want—not something crowded with your legion of iPhone apps. You can bring back the old Launchpad if you can't stand the new look, at least for now. Despite the introduction of a new Game Overlay to quickly chat with friends Discord-style, macOS feels like the least dramatic update of Apple's mainstay product lines. Your iPad, on the other hand, will feel like a whole new machine. Gone is the need for Split View or Stage Manager. You can now have multiple apps open at once, each in its own resizable window. What's extra fun is how you can throw each app to the two corners of the display, and they'll automatically resize to fit the screen. All this extra space to put more apps on the screen will inevitably result in a more crowded field. Apple added an automatic resizing capability on the top of each app if you prefer to tile your apps or center them on the left, right, top, or bottom of the display. Not to put too fine a point on it, this is the best iPad has ever been. Still, this beta isn't as simple as Mac, where you can resize any window as small or large as you want. The new version of iPadOS doesn't have any smart tiling where it can puzzle out the right spot for an app automatically, even when there's room. Plus, when you have your apps out on the screen, you can't hit any other app icons until you swipe up from the bottom. You can use this same movement to see all your open apps at once, like on the iPhone. However, like Mac, you can access a full menu bar. Swiping down from the center of the screen lets you quickly access the Edit or Format options, depending on the app you have open. As much as these changes aid multitasking, iPad is still iPad. Apps built with Apple's tablet in mind work better than ports such as Google Docs. The latest iPad Pro and iPad Air support the new versions of the Magic Keyboard with a full function row, but simply selecting text on some apps can feel like a chore. It's now closest to being Mac-like, but you'll still use iPad for large-screen tasks you wouldn't on Apple's full-scale computers. Despite getting knocked down hard, Apple Intelligence isn't down for the count. Apple seems to be pushing the weird AI summaries back onto all our devices. If you want a reminder, the notification summaries were designed as part of the botched rollout of Apple Intelligence. They used onboard AI to massage your texts, emails, or other heads-ups into small text snippets. The AI had the tendency to get things wrong—often hilariously so. The feature went over so poorly with users that Apple turned off AI summaries in January this year. Once you install the new beta on iOS, iPadOS, or macOS, users get to choose if they want notifications for their news apps or for other communication apps as well. Now, all AI summaries will include a note that they were crafted with Apple Intelligence. These should hopefully be much better at accurately describing news headlines as well as your texts, but we'll have to try them out for ourselves. There are even more iPhone-specific upgrades packed into this first public beta, including the first instance of the ability to screen calls from people not in your contacts and the option to silence unknown callers. There are tons of smaller iOS 26 capabilities arriving on iPhone and all respective Apple products with this and future betas. Similarly, Macs will find small updates to make Spotlight actually useful through sending quick texts or emails without having to go through each respective app. As much as Liquid Glass feels like a big change, the overall look of iOS is still as fluid as its name implies.
