{"id":21256,"date":"2025-07-24T19:35:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T19:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/21256\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T19:35:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T19:35:10","slug":"apples-liquid-glass-redesign-is-shaping-up-to-be-a-snoozer-on-macs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/21256\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple\u2019s Liquid Glass redesign is shaping up to be a snoozer on Macs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple\u2019s macOS Tahoe 26 public beta is finally available<\/a>, and with it the same Liquid Glass design language that\u2019s coming to the rest of Apple\u2019s operating systems. It\u2019s a simultaneously weird yet milquetoast update. I\u2019ve been testing the developer beta on an M4 MacBook Air since WWDC in June, and after using it through to the latest dev beta release (which is similar to the public one), I\u2019ve had some ups and downs. But, frankly, it\u2019s mostly been a lot of \u201cmeh.\u201d<\/p>\n

My first 24 hours with the first Tahoe developer beta<\/a> left me baffled by Liquid Glass (with Windows Vista comparisons abounding<\/a>), but I conceded that the design might grow on me. Instead, I\u2019ve grown to mostly ignore it. The translucency has been ever-so-slightly toned down to a frosted look<\/a> (though Apple\u2019s tweaks continue<\/a>). I do think it\u2019s slightly improved over the first dev beta, but not as good as the outgoing macOS Sequoia.<\/p>\n

1\/15Here are a bunch of ways you can customize the Liquid Glass look of macOS Tahoe, starting with light mode and the default icons.<\/p>\n

I bet most people, whether trying the public beta for Tahoe or waiting on the full release in the fall, will upgrade and think, \u201cThis is fine<\/a>.\u201d And they won\u2019t be wrong. But Sequoia\u2019s flatter, simpler design felt cleaner and more purposeful \u2014 and every time I see or use a Mac that\u2019s not on the beta I want to go back. Liquid Glass feels desperate, like Apple was fishing for ways to freshen things up for the sake of doing something different. Hey, everybody, look at the shiny new UI! No, don\u2019t pay attention to how underwhelming Apple Intelligence still feels, despite the endless overselling in TV ads<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The major advantage of a Mac is that here the Liquid Glass-ification feels less obtrusive since there\u2019s so much more room to breathe. I\u2019m relieved Apple made Control Center more opaque since the unparseable initial take on the Control Center<\/a> in the first dev beta, especially on the iPhone or iPad, where it\u2019s inescapable. But I don\u2019t care what they do with Control Center on the Mac, because I never use it.<\/p>\n

Every time I see or use a Mac that\u2019s not on the beta I want to go back<\/p>\n

On a Mac, Control Center is just one of a few places you can access settings like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, screen brightness, and audio volume. That\u2019s the beauty of a desktop operating system; you have tons of options for doing things, including Apple\u2019s odd iOS-ification of macOS starting in Big Sur<\/a>, and you can use them how you like. And that includes dedicated keyboard keys for functions like media playback and brightness settings.<\/p>\n

But even though Apple is improving Liquid Glass a little, it\u2019s still making choices I find odd or out of place. The Menu Bar remains invisible by default, as in the first dev beta, but it can once again be given a background like the old way (and without resorting to killing all transparencies in the accessibility settings). However, when you use Show Desktop and clear all your windows to the side (either with a four-finger trackpad swipe or by clicking the wallpaper), the Menu Bar has a shadow-like outline beneath it, even with the Menu Bar fully transparent. It\u2019s functional, to show the borders of the desktop while your windows are temporarily hidden, but it\u2019s weird for something invisible to look like it\u2019s casting a shadow.<\/p>\n

\"<em>The<\/a>\"<em>The<\/a>PreviousNext<\/p>\n

1\/2The invisible Menu Bar in Tahoe.<\/p>\n

The popup in the top right corner showing when you adjust volume or brightness via the keyboard still feels too high up and disconnected from your physical input. It doesn\u2019t look quite as ugly as it did on the first dev beta, but the old, center-aligned popup near the bottom of the screen always felt nicely anchored (it\u2019s also how macOS worked for as far back as I remember using it).<\/p>\n

I hope Apple continues to tweak and refine Liquid Glass, but for now I\u2019m just letting its mediocrity wash over me. I barely pay attention to it now. It\u2019s glass, after all; something in real life designed to be invisible and inoffensive \u2014 something to look beyond.<\/p>\n

The parts of macOS Tahoe that I find most useful and important are the updates to Spotlight and the inclusion of a fully baked Phone app via your iPhone. The latter is quite simple: the dedicated Phone app allows you to take and make calls on your Mac without having to touch your phone. In the past you could field an incoming call on your Mac, but now you get a full app that works just like it does on iOS, complete with the ability to listen to voicemail and dial numbers via your keyboard if you\u2019re inclined (and actually have phone numbers memorized). It\u2019s helped me be slightly less procrastination-prone in calling doctors\u2019 offices, contractors, and other businesses while not fully detaching myself from my work. Normally, I\u2019d push those essential calls off, and then next thing you know it\u2019s well past 5PM and they\u2019re closed for the day.<\/p>\n

\"Behold,<\/a><\/p>\n

Behold, one of the most useful new features of macOS Tahoe: a Phone app. Image: Apple<\/p>\n

The Spotlight updates are best for the Shortcuts<\/a> sickos<\/a>. And, candidly, that ain\u2019t me. On a PC, I frequently use the Windows key to search and open apps, but on Macs I\u2019ve never used Spotlight that much. But the new features in Tahoe are getting me to dabble. I appreciate the clipboard history most. I\u2019m slowly building muscle memory for the Command + Space and Command + 4 sequence, which calls up the clipboard history. I\u2019ve read that Raycast is more fully featured<\/a> than Tahoe\u2019s Spotlight; e.g., Spotlight\u2019s clipboard history only shows things you copied in the last eight hours, where Raycast\u2019s history can span up to three months or indefinitely if you pin them.<\/p>\n

1\/4Tahoe\u2019s new Spotlight, with quick access to apps, files, actions, and the clipboard.<\/p>\n

I know Raycast and other dedicated application launchers can do more detailed and intricate tasks, but the improved Spotlight and clipboard are good enough for me \u2014 for now, at least. I imagine Apple may slowly flesh out these features over time, and that might be a healthy on-ramp for the power user-curious. I\u2019d like the clipboard history to get a touch more robust by the time of Tahoe\u2019s full release in the fall. However, Apple is likely to not be as freewheeling as an app like Raycast, since one person\u2019s expansive clipboard history is another person\u2019s privacy nightmare \u2014 likely the reason for the eight-hour time limit.<\/p>\n

Now that the public beta is out, many more people will be able to try out Tahoe and see what they think of Liquid Glass. Thankfully, outright performance seems normal now, after battery life took an initial nosedive in the first dev betas. But anyone interested in dabbling should be aware that there are bound to be bugs in a beta \u2014 especially with third-party apps. I\u2019ve noticed Signal and some Adobe apps acting up when displaying lots of white, temporarily looking like washed-out gray (though it\u2019s not visible in saved files or screenshots, and some Lightroom Classic tools like cropping and the auto white balance eyedropper work fine but don\u2019t always get picked up by your cursor).<\/p>\n

If you rely on a single Mac for your everyday work, I\u2019d wait until the full release in the fall to get your first taste of Liquid Glass. A fresh design for a major operating system can feel invigorating, but for Macs and Tahoe it\u2019s a snoozefest for now.<\/p>\n

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