macOS 26 features that make Windows 11 look outdated

Phone Arena

3 days ago

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 modern.One 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 iPhone.You 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.