The Top New Features in MacOS Tahoe—Including One Feature Mac Nerds Will Love

WIRED

11-06-2025

MacOS 26 Tahoe brings a slew of new features, but the massive overhaul to Spotlight will likely become a fan favorite. The next version of macOS has a whole new design. It matches the new look coming to iPhones, iPads, and the rest of Apple's devices. Courtesy of Apple
We haven't been excited about recent MacOS updates, but with MacOS 26 Tahoe, it looks like we'll be getting one of the biggest overhauls in a while.
Between the visual redesign and some exciting pro features, there's something for everyone in MacOS 26 Tahoe, including one that Mac nerds will absolutely love.
Also be sure to check out the full rundown of everything Apple announced at WWDC 2025. Liquid Glass
It's been a while since Apple has introduced a visual revamp quite this broad. Liquid Glass is what Apple calls the visual motif of its next era in software design.
Marked by soft transparency and subtle gradients, the glass-like design appears in just about every interface, including the Menu Bar, the Lock Screen, app icons, and sidebars in apps. From what I've seen so far, it's a nice change, though some designers have concerns about how it might interfere with basic functionality. The aesthetic changes to macOS haven't been as drastic as what iOS has been through, but this appears to be a well-appreciated fresh coat of paint.
There's a few smaller design changes, such as the ability to change the color of folders or add an emoji to them. Control Center, located up top in the Menu Bar, has also been made completely transparent. More importantly, Apple has added tons more customization so you can add more quick settings to change. You can even add specific settings in commonly used apps such as Zoom.
MacOS Tahoe also brings over a design tweak that came to iPhones last year: tint for icons, which applies a unified look to all your icons at once. Honestly, I'm surprised this is coming to MacOS, because it wasn't well received by reviewers. Major Spotlight Update
This is the feature I'm most excited about. The Spotlight search tool has always been one of my favorite features in MacOS, and I've been waiting for Apple to take this popular feature to the next level. It's smarter on just about every level, quickly offering up apps, documents, or even your clipboard history. But this update is far more than that.
First off, Spotlight can now perform system actions and even in-app actions, such as playing a podcast or starting a recording. You can even fill out parameters such as who you're sending an email to—again, right in Spotlight!
Spotlight gets greatly enhanced in Tahoe. Courtesy of Apple
Hundreds of actions can now be triggered from Spotlight, like sending an email, creating a note, or playing a podcast. Courtesy of Apple
But wait, there's more. There are even Quick Keys you can use to speed things up further. Type 'sm' to send a message or 'ar' to create a reminder. Think next-level key commands with these. You can set up your own Quick Keys too, really expanding the capabilities and customization. For example, you can set up Quick Keys to take actions within an app that you're using, letting you quickly set up a task all from the keyboard. It's for the Mac nerds out there who are already know every other key command, and I can't wait to try it out. AI-Powered Shortcuts
Shortcuts can be a really powerful way of automating tasks on your Mac. With MacOS Tahoe, these get upgraded by Apple Intelligence, letting you set up shortcuts like summarizing text or generating images. You can even tap into ChatGPT (or the on-device Neural Engine) if necessary, setting up chains of actions that could potentially be extremely useful. For example, you might create a Shortcut that compares notes from text in Notes from a lecture to an audio transcription, and then summarize the differences using Apple Intelligence.
The new actions in Shortcuts. Courtesy of Apple
Bonus points—you can now access these AI-powered shortcuts through the aforementioned Spotlight update. More Continuity Features
This one was a bit of a surprise. As part of its ever-growing suite of Continuity features, the Phone app is now coming to Macs. Why put a Phone app on a device that doesn't have a cellular modem? It doesn't make a lot of sense on the surface, but remember, you can intake calls from your iPhone directly to your Mac.
With the app will come all the same newly announced features on iOS 26, such as live translation in calls, new backgrounds for contacts, and automatically screened calls. Not surprisingly, all the changes to group chats will also be coming to the Mac Messages app.
I do think the inclusion of the Phone app could point us in the direction of 5G MacBooks in the future, something Apple has resisted for a long time. While cellular laptops aren't exactly common these days, it certainly feels more possible now that the Phone app is here. So who knows? Maybe the M6 MacBook Pros due out later this year will have a surprise option for cellular connectivity to better make use of the Phone app.
Live Activities from an iPhone will appear in the Mac's menu bar. Courtesy of Apple
Apple is also introducing Live Activities to the Mac, which will hand off an ongoing task from your iPhone, such as an Uber Eats order, and give you updates right in the Menu Bar on your Mac. Other MacOS Tahoe Features
There were a couple other features worth mentioning. One is improvements to gaming, with a dedicated Games app, similar to what will be in iPadOS 26 and iOS 26. It's perhaps the most useful here on the Mac, though, since the question of which games are available on Mac often comes up. It also allows Apple to highlight some of the bigger games coming, such as Cyberpunk 2077 .
The new Apple Games app. Courtesy of Apple
The more exciting part is the new Game Overlay, something that PC gamers usually have access to. The overlay let's you chat with friends, adjust settings, and more without having to exit the game.
Game Overlay lets players adjust their settings, chat, or invite new players. Courtesy of Apple
Some smaller changes include the ability to capture audio recordings within the Notes app, the Journal app coming to the Mac for the first time, and a new Magnifier feature that zooms in with your connected webcam or camera. As per usual, many of the smaller changes will be discovered later in the release, and some new features may pop up along the way. When Will MacOS Tahoe Be Available?
The public beta for macOS Tahoe will be available starting in July, with the official release expected in the fall of 2025.
The developer beta release, meanwhile, was launched the day of the announcement, and you don't have to be a developer to install it. We don't typically recommend installing developer betas, as they can be quite buggy, but for the adventurous, you can find the developer beta under Software Update in System Settings by clicking on the 'i' icon next Beta Updates. So long as you have a compatible Mac, you can install it and play around. Just be sure to back up all of your data first.
If you have a recent Mac, even as old as a 2020 M1 MacBook Air, you'll be able to download and install MacOS Tahoe as a free upgrade when it's released later this year.