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How to Make a MacOS 27 Golden Gate Virtual Machine with VirtualBuddy

If you’re curious about testing out MacOS 27 Golden Gate beta but you aren’t ready for the full commitment of installing it as your primary operating system, the simplest and safest way to run MacOS 27 Golden Gate beta is within a virtual machine. While one of our authors dove right into MacOS 27 Golden ... Read More

The post How to Make a MacOS 27 Golden Gate Virtual Machine with VirtualBuddy appeared first on OS X Daily.

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App Mail poderá ganhar nova barra de formatação no macOS 27

A Apple está testando uma nova barra de formatação para a seção de texto do Mail no macOS Golden Gate 27, dando maior destaque às Ferramentas de Escrita (Writing Tools) da Apple Intelligence.

A nova versão foi compartilhada pelo usuário mactracker na versão beta do macOS 27 e, como apontado por ele, permite exibir sugestões contextuais de respostas inteligentes geradas pela Siri sem a necessidade de inserir automaticamente no rascunho, semelhante ao funcionamento de outras inteligências artificiais (IA) em apps de email.

As opções da nova barra incluem alternativas de edição, reescrita, correções gramaticais e/ou de escrita e uma opção intitulada “How does this sound?”, além das ferramentas tradicionais de formatação, escanteadas na lateral direita do novo layout.

Na versão atual, essas opções de formatação de texto também estão recolhidas na lateral direita da janela do aplicativo, desaparecendo por completo assim que se seleciona a opção de escrever com a Siri.

O novo layout está oculto por trás de uma feature flag interna, de forma que a maioria dos usuários da versão beta não consegue habilitá-lo. A beta 4 apresenta ainda algumas inconsistências no funcionamento do recurso, como a ausência da barra na escrita de novas mensagens, restringindo o seu funcionamento às réplicas de email.

Não se sabe ao certo se o recurso chegará à versão final do macOS 27 (prevista para aterrissar em setembro), mas ele parece acompanhar as reformulações propostas sobre a integração das ferramentas de IA no cotidiano do ecossistema da Apple nos sistemas 27.

via MacRumors

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How to Install macOS 27 Golden Gate Public Beta on Mac

With the launch of the MacOS 27 Golden Gate public beta program, now even more users can experience MacOS 27 as it’s actively being worked on by Apple. MacOS 27 Golden Gate has a heavy focus on performance improvements, but there’s also refinements other than the Liquid Glass interface look, improvements to Spotlight and Mail ... Read More

The post How to Install macOS 27 Golden Gate Public Beta on Mac appeared first on OS X Daily.

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MacOS 27 Golden Gate Beta 4 Available to Download

For Mac users who are currently running MacOS 27 Golden Gate beta, Apple has released the 4th beta version of MacOS 27 developer beta. The latest beta build is available to download now through Software Update, as an IPSW file, or as the full installer. MacOS 27 Golden Gate has a heavy focus on performance ... Read More

The post MacOS 27 Golden Gate Beta 4 Available to Download appeared first on OS X Daily.

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Apple seeds fourth betas of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate to developers

macOS 27 Golden Gate
macOS 27 Golden Gate

Apple on Monday released the fourth developer betas of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate (macOS 27), continuing the rapid beta cycle following the company’s announcements at WWDC 2026. The new builds arrive exactly two weeks after the third betas, signaling steady progress toward the expected public releases this fall.

How to Download

Registered developers can obtain the updates directly on their devices:

• iOS 27 / iPadOS 27: Go to Settings > General > Software Update.

• macOS Golden Gate: Go to System Settings > General > Software Update (with Beta Updates enabled and a developer account linked).

Major Features in This Cycle

Both platforms continue to emphasize Apple Intelligence and a refined user interface centered around the new Liquid Glass design language.

Siri AI takes center stage as a more capable, chatbot-style assistant. It combines general world knowledge, personal context from apps like Messages and Mail, and on-screen awareness to deliver smarter responses. A dedicated Siri app now stores conversation history, and system-wide Write with Siri helps generate or refine text. On the Mac, users can also create custom voices with personalized pace and expressivity. Visual Intelligence has been enhanced and relocated (to the Camera app on iOS and integrated into the desktop on macOS) for better contextual understanding of what’s on screen.

Design and Performance Improvements include:

• Enhanced Liquid Glass with better opacity, readability, and a new transparency slider.

• Refined window shadows, uniform toolbars, edge-to-edge sidebars, and subtler rounded corners on macOS.

• Faster app launching, quicker keyboard appearance, improved AirDrop speeds, and smoother Wi-Fi-to-cellular handoffs across iOS devices.

• Overall performance optimizations that make the system feel snappier, even on older hardware.

Apple Intelligence Expansions add new capabilities in Photos, Safari (AI tab organization), Wallet, Passwords (automatic weak password updates), Shortcuts, and the revamped Image Playground app, which now supports photorealistic image generation.

MacDailyNews Take: With beta 4 now available, Apple is expected to continue refining stability, battery life, and features in the coming weeks. A public beta is likely to follow soon, ahead of the official launch of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate in September.


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The post Apple seeds fourth betas of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate to developers appeared first on MacDailyNews.

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macOS Golden Gate Beta 4 – Everything You Need to Know!

macOS Golden Gate Beta

macOS Golden Gate Beta 27.0 Beta 4 (26A5388g) is now Available!

UPDATED: 07/21/26

This article is being updated as new changes are discovered.

Today, Apple released macOS Golden Gate Beta 4 (26A5388g) to developers. The update arrives two weeks after macOS Golden Gate Beta 3 and is available for download through Software Update in System Settings for users enrolled in the Apple Developer Beta program.

Apple has not provided a complete public list of changes included in this beta beyond its developer release notes. As with previous macOS beta releases, many changes are discovered through testing, system analysis, and comparing files between builds.

This article provides a detailed technical breakdown of macOS Golden Gate Beta 4. Along with covering user-facing changes and new features, this guide will examine system changes, update details, firmware updates, developer changes, and other discoveries found while analyzing the latest beta.

This article will track everything new in macOS Golden Gate Beta 4, including confirmed features, UI changes, bug fixes, update sizes, firmware updates, security changes, and additional developer changes identified during analysis.

The macOS Golden Gate Public Beta 2 is expected to become available shortly after the developer release.

System Settings > Software Update:

Table of Contents

  1. OCLP for Unsupported Macs Warning
  2. Should You Install macOS Golden Gate Beta?
  3. Full Apple Beta OS Update Release List
  4. Apple macOS Golden Gate Links
  5. What’s New in macOS Golden Gate?
  6. macOS Golden Gate Beta Release History
  7. macOS Golden Gate Full Installer.app
  8. Apple Silicon macOS Golden Gate IPSW Restore File
  9. macOS Golden Gate Update Sizes
  10. Apple Silicon Firmware & iBoot Versions
  11. Safari Version
  12. macOS Recovery Version
  13. Security Content of macOS Golden Gate
  14. macOS Golden Gate Release Notes
  15. Final Notes

NOTE: I hate website ads, but this one small Google ad below helps me with the cost of running Mr. Macintosh.com. Thank you!

1. OCLP for Unsupported Macs Warning

OpenCore Legacy Patcher is not compatible with macOS Golden Gate and macOS Tahoe. Make sure you go into System Settings > Software Update and TURN OFF Download Updates & Install macOS Updates.

If you use OCLP on an unsupported Mac, wait for official OpenCore Legacy Patcher 3.0.0 testing and compatibility information before attempting to install.

2. Should You Install macOS Golden Gate Beta?

Most users should not install macOS Golden Gate Beta on their main Mac. This is early beta software, which means apps may crash, battery life may be reduced, accessories may not work correctly, and some features may be unfinished.

Install it only if you have a test Mac, a full backup, and a reason to test the new release early. I recommend two types of backups: Time Machine & A direct copy of your important files and apps

This might seem like a lot, but TRUST ME, it will be worth it if something goes wrong!

MacAdmins, developers, and advanced users can begin testing app compatibility, MDM enrollment, security tools, VPN clients, printers, FileVault workflows, software update behavior, and deployment processes.

3. Full Apple Beta OS Update Release List

Beta 4 & RC 6

  • Golden Gate 27.0 (26A5388g) Beta 4
  • Tahoe 26.6 (25G70)
  • Sequoia 15.7.8 (24G822)
  • Sonoma 14.8.8 (23J619)
  • iOS & iPadOS 27.0 (24A5390f) Beta 4
  • iOS & iPadOS 26.6 (23G71)
  • tvOS 27.0 (24J5325d) Beta 4
  • homePodOS 27.0 (24J5325d) Beta 4
  • tvOS 26.6 (23L772)
  • watchOS 26.6 (23U67)
  • visionOS 26.6 (23O770)

Safari

  • Safari 27.0

Developer Tools

  • Xcode 27 beta 4
  • Command Line Tools for Xcode 27 Beta 4

4. Apple macOS Golden Gate Links

Official links will be added as Apple publishes more macOS Golden Gate documentation.

5. What’s New in Golden Gate 27 Beta 4?

Apple has released the 4th developer beta of macOS Golden Gate 27.

New Features & Changes

Liquid Glass Design Updates

macOS Golden Gate brings a more polished Liquid Glass design with better readability, improved contrast, more consistent toolbars, edge-to-edge sidebars, updated window shapes, and refreshed menu bar icons. Apple has also added a new slider that lets you adjust the Liquid Glass look from very clear to fully tinted.

Performance Improvements

Apple says the system should feel faster overall, with quicker AirDrop transfers, faster network file browsing, faster Safari start page loading, improved Mail search ranking, and better Spotlight search suggestions.

Siri AI on Mac

The biggest new feature is Siri AI on Mac. Siri can now answer more natural questions, understand personal context, take actions inside apps, work from Spotlight, and live inside a new dedicated Siri app for longer conversations.

Visual Intelligence

Visual Intelligence is also coming to the Mac, letting you ask questions about what’s on your screen and get help based on the content you’re looking at.

Writing Tools & Apple Intelligence

Golden Gate expands Writing Tools with Siri, adds better AI photo editing, improves Image Playground, and lets you create Shortcuts from plain-language descriptions.

Safari & Passwords

Safari gets smarter tab grouping, page-change alerts, and faster start page loading. Apple is also adding one-click password fixes to help update weak or reused passwords more easily.

Family, Safety & Accessibility

Golden Gate includes stronger child safety controls, improved Screen Time features, and new accessibility improvements across the system.

Other Notable Changes

Other smaller changes include ultrawide display upgrades, better iCloud Shared Albums, Call Context, enhanced Flyover in Maps, swipe-to-refresh in more apps, and a refreshed video podcasts experience.

6. macOS Golden Gate Beta Release History

  • 5. macOS Golden Gate 27 Developer Beta 4 (26A5388g) – 7/20/26
  • 4. macOS Golden Gate 27 Public Beta 1 (26A5378n) – 7/13/26
  • 3. macOS Golden Gate 27 Developer Beta 3 (26A5378j) –7/06/26
  • 2. macOS Golden Gate 27 Developer Beta 2 (26A5368g) – 6/22/26
  • 1. macOS Golden Gate 27 Developer Beta 1 (26A5353q) – 6/08/26

7. macOS Golden Gate Full Installer.app

The full installer is useful if you want to create a USB installer, install macOS Golden Gate on another Mac, or archive the installer for testing.

Use this link to download the latest version of macOS Golden Gate Full installer AKA InstallAssistant.pkg

https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-golden-gate-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/

8. Apple Silicon macOS Golden Gate IPSW Restore File

An IPSW restore file is mainly used to restore or revive Apple Silicon Macs with Apple Configurator, Finder, or another Mac.

Most users do not need the IPSW file for normal macOS updates. IPSW files are intended for restores, revives, troubleshooting, clean installs, and testing workflows.

Use this link to download the full Mac IPSW restore file directly from Apple:

https://mrmacintosh.com/apple-silicon-m1-full-macos-restore-ipsw-firmware-files-database/

9. macOS Golden Gate Update/Upgrade Size

Update Size Information

The delta update & upgrade size will automatically change in size for exactly what your macOS version needs. For example the smallest update size will be from Beta 3 to Beta 4. But if you are upgrading from Beta 1 to Beta 4, the upgrade size will need to include all the fixes in Beta 2 and 3.

Apple Silicon Updates

Delta from macOS Golden Gate Beta 3 with size = 6.93GB

Upgrade from macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 with size = 20.24GB

10. Apple Silicon Firmware & iBoot Versions

The Apple Silicon firmware and iBoot versions included with macOS Golden Gate Beta are listed below.

  • 5. macOS Golden Gate 27 Developer Beta 4 = 20457.0.125.0.2
  • 4. macOS Golden Gate 27 Public Beta 1 = 20457.0.77.0.2
  • 3. macOS Golden Gate 27 Developer Beta 3 = 20457.0.77.0.2
  • 2. macOS Golden Gate 27 Developer Beta 2 = 20457.0.13.0.11
  • 1. macOS Golden Gate 27 Developer Beta 1 = 20356.0.0.0.15

11. Safari Version

macOS Golden Gate Beta includes Safari 27.0.

  • 5. macOS Golden Gate Developer Beta 4 = Safari 27.0 (22625.1.24.11.2)
  • 4. macOS Golden Gate Public Beta 1 = Safari 27.0 (22625.1.22.11.4)
  • 3. macOS Golden Gate Developer Beta 3 = Safari 27.0 (22625.1.22.11.4)
  • 2. macOS Golden Gate Developer Beta 2 = Safari 27.0 (22625.1.20.11.3)
  • 1. macOS Golden Gate Developer Beta 1 = Safari 27.0 (I need this please email)

12. macOS Recovery Version

  • 5. macOS Golden Gate Developer Beta 4 =
  • 4. macOS Golden Gate Public Beta 1 =
  • 3. macOS Golden Gate Developer Beta 3 = 27.0 (26A5378j)
  • 2. macOS Golden Gate Developer Beta 2 =
  • 1. macOS Golden Gate Developer Beta 1 =

13. Security Content of macOS Golden Gate Beta

Apple does not publish full CVE security content for macOS beta releases.

This section will be updated if Apple publishes security details for macOS Golden Gate 27.

  • Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases
  • Safari Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases
  • WebKit Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases

14. macOS Golden Gate Beta Release Notes

This is the official link to Apple’s developer notes for macOS Golden Gate 27:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/macos-release-notes/macos-27-release-notes

15. Final Notes

If you install macOS Golden Gate Beta, make sure you have a full backup before proceeding. Beta software can cause app compatibility issues, performance problems, and data loss. Do not install this beta on your main Mac unless you are comfortable troubleshooting and restoring macOS.

The post macOS Golden Gate Beta 4 – Everything You Need to Know! appeared first on Mr. Macintosh.

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Vídeo: as novidades de IA no Safari, Atalhos e Fotos no macOS Golden Gate 27

Dando continuidade à nossa série de vídeos sobre o macOS Golden Gate 27, desta vez o foco foi em novidades que espalham inteligência artificial por diferentes cantos do sistema: Safari, Atalhos (Shortcuts), Finder, Image Playground e Fotos (Photos).

Neste segundo vídeo, mostramos o agrupamento inteligente de abas no Safari, os recursos de IA no app Atalhos e a sugestão inteligente de nomes para pastas no Finder, feita com base no conteúdo que elas guardam. Fechamos com o Image Playground e as novas ferramentas da Apple Intelligence que chegaram ao app Fotos.

Ainda tem mais pela frente nessa cobertura do macOS 27 — continue acompanhando o canal do MacMagazine para não perder os próximos vídeos! 😀

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MacOS 27 Golden Gate Public Beta Now Available to Download for Mac

Apple has opened the public beta program for MacOS 27 Golden Gate to all curious Mac users. While betas are typically best reserved for advanced users due to being buggier and less stable than final builds, the public beta program offers an opportunity for users to experience beta development and upcoming features, ahead of the ... Read More

The post MacOS 27 Golden Gate Public Beta Now Available to Download for Mac appeared first on OS X Daily.

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Download All 4 MacOS Golden Gate 27 Default Wallpapers

MacOS Golden Gate 27 has four new default wallpaper options for you to enjoy. This includes two abstract images that closely match the iOS 27 default wallpaper, and shipped with the first betas, and two new landscape wallpapers of the namesake Golden Gate Bridge; one during sunset, and one at night. They’re all really quite ... Read More

The post Download All 4 MacOS Golden Gate 27 Default Wallpapers appeared first on OS X Daily.

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MacOS Golden Gate 27 Beta 3 Available to Download

The third beta version of MacOS Golden Gate 27 has been released to users enrolled in the developer beta testing program for Apple system software. MacOS 27 beta 3 carries build 26A5378j, and is available to download now through Software Update, a package installer, or IPSW. MacOS Golden Gate 27 has an emphasis on improving ... Read More

The post MacOS Golden Gate 27 Beta 3 Available to Download appeared first on OS X Daily.

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macOS Golden Gate Beta 3 – Everything You Need to Know!

macOS Golden Gate Beta

macOS Golden Gate Beta 27.0 Beta 3 (26A5378j) is now Available!

UPDATED: 07/06/26

Apple has released the third developer beta of macOS Golden Gate with more refinements to the new interface and AI features.

Beta 3 further improves the Liquid Glass design with better readability, updated window styling, and a new transparency slider that lets you control the amount of the glass effect.

Apple is also expanding Siri AI on the Mac. It now lives in Spotlight, has its own app for conversations, can answer questions about your files and what’s on your screen, and can help with writing.

This beta also includes additional AI features across apps like Photos, Safari, Passwords, and Image Playground as Apple continues preparing macOS Golden Gate for its public beta next month.

Table of Contents

  1. OCLP Users Warning
  2. Should You Install macOS Golden Gate?
  3. Full Apple Update Release List
  4. What’s New in macOS Golden Gate?
  5. Apple macOS Golden Gate Links
  6. macOS Golden Gate Beta Release History
  7. macOS Golden Gate Full Installer.app
  8. Apple Silicon macOS Golden Gate IPSW Restore File
  9. macOS Golden Gate Update Sizes
  10. Apple Silicon Firmware & iBoot Versions
  11. Safari Version
  12. Security Content of macOS Golden Gate
  13. macOS Golden Gate Release Notes
  14. Final Notes

NOTE: I hate website ads, but this one small Google ad below helps me with the cost of running Mr. Macintosh.com. Thank you!

1. OCLP Users Warning

OpenCore Legacy Patcher is not compatible with macOS Golden Gate or macOS Tahoe. Make sure you go into System Settings > Software Update and turn off Download Updates and Install macOS Updates.

If you use OCLP on an unsupported Mac, wait for official OpenCore Legacy Patcher 3.0.0 testing and compatibility information before attempting to install.

2. Should You Install macOS Golden Gate Beta?

Most users should not install macOS Golden Gate Beta on their main Mac. This is early beta software, which means apps may crash, battery life may be reduced, accessories may not work correctly, and some features may be unfinished.

Install it only if you have a test Mac, a full backup, and a reason to test the new release early. I recommend two types of backups: Time Machine & A direct copy of your important files and apps

This might seem like a lot, but TRUST ME, it will be worth it if something goes wrong!

MacAdmins, developers, and advanced users can begin testing app compatibility, MDM enrollment, security tools, VPN clients, printers, FileVault workflows, software update behavior, and deployment processes.

3. Full Apple Update Release List

Beta 3

  • macOS Golden Gate 27.0 (26A5378j)
  • iOS 27.0 ()
  • iPadOS 27.0 ()
  • tvOS 27.0 ()
  • homePodOS 27.0 ()
  • visionOS 27.0 ()
  • watchOS 27.0 ()

Safari

  • Safari 27.0

Developer Tools

  • Xcode 27 beta
  • Command Line Tools for Xcode 27 beta

4. What’s New in macOS Golden Gate Beta 3?

Apple has released the 3rd developer beta of macOS Golden Gate 27.

New Features & Changes

Liquid Glass Design Updates

macOS Golden Gate brings a more polished Liquid Glass design with better readability, improved contrast, more consistent toolbars, edge-to-edge sidebars, updated window shapes, and refreshed menu bar icons. Apple has also added a new slider that lets you adjust the Liquid Glass look from very clear to fully tinted.

Performance Improvements

Apple says the system should feel faster overall, with quicker AirDrop transfers, faster network file browsing, faster Safari start page loading, improved Mail search ranking, and better Spotlight search suggestions.

Siri AI on Mac

The biggest new feature is Siri AI on Mac. Siri can now answer more natural questions, understand personal context, take actions inside apps, work from Spotlight, and live inside a new dedicated Siri app for longer conversations.

Visual Intelligence

Visual Intelligence is also coming to the Mac, letting you ask questions about what’s on your screen and get help based on the content you’re looking at.

Writing Tools & Apple Intelligence

Golden Gate expands Writing Tools with Siri, adds better AI photo editing, improves Image Playground, and lets you create Shortcuts from plain-language descriptions.

Safari & Passwords

Safari gets smarter tab grouping, page-change alerts, and faster start page loading. Apple is also adding one-click password fixes to help update weak or reused passwords more easily.

Family, Safety & Accessibility

Golden Gate includes stronger child safety controls, improved Screen Time features, and new accessibility improvements across the system.

Other Notable Changes

Other smaller changes include ultrawide display upgrades, better iCloud Shared Albums, Call Context, enhanced Flyover in Maps, swipe-to-refresh in more apps, and a refreshed video podcasts experience.

5. Apple macOS Golden Gate Links

Official links will be added as Apple publishes more macOS Golden Gate documentation.

  • Apple Developer Site — macOS 27
  • macOS Beta Program Information
  • Apple Security Updates Page
  • Apple macOS Golden Gate Features Page

6. macOS Golden Gate Beta Release History

macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 2

  • Version: macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 2
  • Build: 26A5368g
  • Release Date: 06/22/26
  • Release Type: Developer Beta

macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 1

  • Version: macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 1
  • Build: 26A5353q
  • Release Date: 06/09/26
  • Release Type: Developer Beta

7. macOS Golden Gate Full Installer.app

The full installer is useful if you want to create a USB installer, install macOS Golden Gate on another Mac, or archive the installer for testing.

Use this link to download the latest version of macOS Golden Gate Full installer AKA InstallAssistant.pkg

https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-golden-gate-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/

8. Apple Silicon macOS Golden Gate IPSW Restore File

An IPSW restore file is mainly used to restore or revive Apple Silicon Macs with Apple Configurator, Finder, or another Mac.

Most users do not need the IPSW file for normal macOS updates. IPSW files are intended for restores, revives, troubleshooting, clean installs, and testing workflows.

Use this link to download the full Mac IPSW restore file directly from Apple:

https://mrmacintosh.com/apple-silicon-m1-full-macos-restore-ipsw-firmware-files-database/

9. macOS Golden Gate Update Sizes

Update sizes will vary depending on your Mac model and the version of macOS currently installed.

Update Size Information

  • Full Installer:
  • IPSW Restore File: 
  • Delta Update: TBD
  • Combo Update: TBD

More update size details will be added after additional testing.

10. Apple Silicon Firmware & iBoot Versions

The Apple Silicon firmware and iBoot versions included with macOS Golden Gate Beta 1 are listed below.

  • Apple Silicon Firmware Version: 20356.0.0.0.15
  • Apple Silicon iBoot Version: 20356.0.0.0.15

11. Safari Version

macOS Golden Gate Beta 1 includes Safari 27.0.

  • Safari Version Included: Safari 27.0
  • Safari Security Content: Apple does not release security notes for beta software
  • WebKit Security Content: Apple does not release security notes for beta software

12. Security Content of macOS Golden Gate Beta 1

Apple does not publish full CVE security content for macOS beta releases.

This section will be updated if Apple publishes security details for macOS Golden Gate 27.

  • Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases
  • Safari Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases
  • WebKit Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases

13. macOS Golden Gate Beta 2 Release Notes

This is the official link to Apple’s developer notes for macOS Golden Gate 27:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/macos-release-notes/macos-27-release-notes

14. Final Notes

If you install macOS Golden Gate Beta 2, make sure you have a full backup before proceeding. Beta software can cause app compatibility issues, performance problems, and data loss. Do not install this beta on your main Mac unless you are comfortable troubleshooting and restoring macOS.

The post macOS Golden Gate Beta 3 – Everything You Need to Know! appeared first on Mr. Macintosh.

  •  

macOS Golden Gate Beta 2 – Everything You Need to Know!

macOS Golden Gate Beta

macOS Golden Gate Beta 27.0 Beta 2 is now Available!

UPDATED: 06/22/26

Apple has released the second developer beta of macOS Golden Gate with more refinements to the new interface and AI features.

Beta 2 further improves the Liquid Glass design with better readability, updated window styling, and a new transparency slider that lets you control the amount of the glass effect.

Apple is also expanding Siri AI on the Mac. It now lives in Spotlight, has its own app for conversations, can answer questions about your files and what’s on your screen, and can help with writing.

This beta also includes additional AI features across apps like Photos, Safari, Passwords, and Image Playground as Apple continues preparing macOS Golden Gate for its public beta next month.

Table of Contents

  1. OCLP Users Warning
  2. Should You Install macOS Golden Gate?
  3. Full Apple Update Release List
  4. What’s New in macOS Golden Gate?
  5. Apple macOS Golden Gate Links
  6. macOS Golden Gate Beta Release History
  7. macOS Golden Gate Full Installer.app
  8. Apple Silicon macOS Golden Gate IPSW Restore File
  9. macOS Golden Gate Update Sizes
  10. Apple Silicon Firmware & iBoot Versions
  11. Safari Version
  12. Security Content of macOS Golden Gate
  13. macOS Golden Gate Release Notes
  14. Final Notes

NOTE: I hate website ads, but this one small Google ad below helps me with the cost of running Mr. Macintosh.com. Thank you!

1. OCLP Users Warning

OpenCore Legacy Patcher is not compatible with macOS Golden Gate or macOS Tahoe. Make sure you go into System Settings > Software Update and turn off Download Updates and Install macOS Updates.

If you use OCLP on an unsupported Mac, wait for official OpenCore Legacy Patcher 3.0.0 testing and compatibility information before attempting to install.

2. Should You Install macOS Golden Gate Beta?

Most users should not install macOS Golden Gate Beta 1 on their main Mac. This is early beta software, which means apps may crash, battery life may be reduced, accessories may not work correctly, and some features may be unfinished.

Install it only if you have a test Mac, a full backup, and a reason to test the new release early. I recommend two types of backups: Time Machine & A direct copy of your important files and apps

This might seem like a lot, but TRUST ME, it will be worth it if something goes wrong!

MacAdmins, developers, and advanced users can begin testing app compatibility, MDM enrollment, security tools, VPN clients, printers, FileVault workflows, software update behavior, and deployment processes.

3. Full Apple Update Release List

Beta 2

  • macOS Golden Gate 27.0 (26A5368g)
  • iOS 27.0 (24A5370h)
  • iPadOS 27.0 (24A5370h)
  • tvOS 27.0 (24J5305f)
  • homePodOS 27.0 (24J5305f)
  • visionOS 27.0 (24M5306i)
  • watchOS 27.0 (Waiting)

Safari

  • Safari 27.0

Developer Tools

  • Xcode 27 beta
  • Command Line Tools for Xcode 27 beta

4. What’s New in macOS Golden Gate Beta 2?

Apple has released the 2nd developer beta of macOS Golden Gate 27.

New Features & Changes

Liquid Glass Design Updates

macOS Golden Gate brings a more polished Liquid Glass design with better readability, improved contrast, more consistent toolbars, edge-to-edge sidebars, updated window shapes, and refreshed menu bar icons. Apple has also added a new slider that lets you adjust the Liquid Glass look from very clear to fully tinted.

Performance Improvements

Apple says the system should feel faster overall, with quicker AirDrop transfers, faster network file browsing, faster Safari start page loading, improved Mail search ranking, and better Spotlight search suggestions.

Siri AI on Mac

The biggest new feature is Siri AI on Mac. Siri can now answer more natural questions, understand personal context, take actions inside apps, work from Spotlight, and live inside a new dedicated Siri app for longer conversations.

Visual Intelligence

Visual Intelligence is also coming to the Mac, letting you ask questions about what’s on your screen and get help based on the content you’re looking at.

Writing Tools & Apple Intelligence

Golden Gate expands Writing Tools with Siri, adds better AI photo editing, improves Image Playground, and lets you create Shortcuts from plain-language descriptions.

Safari & Passwords

Safari gets smarter tab grouping, page-change alerts, and faster start page loading. Apple is also adding one-click password fixes to help update weak or reused passwords more easily.

Family, Safety & Accessibility

Golden Gate includes stronger child safety controls, improved Screen Time features, and new accessibility improvements across the system.

Other Notable Changes

Other smaller changes include ultrawide display upgrades, better iCloud Shared Albums, Call Context, enhanced Flyover in Maps, swipe-to-refresh in more apps, and a refreshed video podcasts experience.

5. Apple macOS Golden Gate Links

Official links will be added as Apple publishes more macOS Golden Gate documentation.

  • Apple Developer Site — macOS 27
  • macOS Beta Program Information
  • Apple Security Updates Page
  • Apple macOS Golden Gate Features Page

6. macOS Golden Gate Beta Release History

macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 2

  • Version: macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 2
  • Build: 26A5368g
  • Release Date: 06/22/26
  • Release Type: Developer Beta

macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 1

  • Version: macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 1
  • Build: 26A5353q
  • Release Date: 06/09/26
  • Release Type: Developer Beta

7. macOS Golden Gate Full Installer.app

The full installer is useful if you want to create a USB installer, install macOS Golden Gate on another Mac, or archive the installer for testing.

Use this link to download the latest version of macOS Golden Gate Full installer AKA InstallAssistant.pkg

https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-golden-gate-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/

8. Apple Silicon macOS Golden Gate IPSW Restore File

An IPSW restore file is mainly used to restore or revive Apple Silicon Macs with Apple Configurator, Finder, or another Mac.

Most users do not need the IPSW file for normal macOS updates. IPSW files are intended for restores, revives, troubleshooting, clean installs, and testing workflows.

Use this link to download the full Mac IPSW restore file directly from Apple:

https://mrmacintosh.com/apple-silicon-m1-full-macos-restore-ipsw-firmware-files-database/

9. macOS Golden Gate Update Sizes

Update sizes will vary depending on your Mac model and the version of macOS currently installed.

Update Size Information

  • Full Installer:
  • IPSW Restore File: 
  • Delta Update: TBD
  • Combo Update: TBD

More update size details will be added after additional testing.

10. Apple Silicon Firmware & iBoot Versions

The Apple Silicon firmware and iBoot versions included with macOS Golden Gate Beta 1 are listed below.

  • Apple Silicon Firmware Version: 20356.0.0.0.15
  • Apple Silicon iBoot Version: 20356.0.0.0.15

11. Safari Version

macOS Golden Gate Beta 1 includes Safari 27.0.

  • Safari Version Included: Safari 27.0
  • Safari Security Content: Apple does not release security notes for beta software
  • WebKit Security Content: Apple does not release security notes for beta software

12. Security Content of macOS Golden Gate Beta 1

Apple does not publish full CVE security content for macOS beta releases.

This section will be updated if Apple publishes security details for macOS Golden Gate 27.

  • Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases
  • Safari Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases
  • WebKit Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases

13. macOS Golden Gate Beta 2 Release Notes

This is the official link to Apple’s developer notes for macOS Golden Gate 27:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/macos-release-notes/macos-27-release-notes

14. Final Notes

If you install macOS Golden Gate Beta 2, make sure you have a full backup before proceeding. Beta software can cause app compatibility issues, performance problems, and data loss. Do not install this beta on your main Mac unless you are comfortable troubleshooting and restoring macOS.

The post macOS Golden Gate Beta 2 – Everything You Need to Know! appeared first on Mr. Macintosh.

  •  

macOS Golden Gate Beta 1 – Everything You Need to Know!

macOS Golden Gate Beta

macOS Golden Gate Beta 27.0 is now Available!

UPDATED: 06/09/26

Apple has released the first developer beta of macOS Golden Gate Beta 27. This is the first major beta release of Apple’s next version of macOS.

Sadly, this will be the first macOS release in almost 20 years, and 17 macOS releases, that does not support Intel devices. We all knew this was coming, but it is still a bummer for sure.

Golden Gate is looking like a Snow Leopard-type release that focuses on performance across the system, including a rebuilt search index that should make Spotlight, Mail, Photos, and other search-heavy areas feel faster and more reliable. Apple also reworked a lot of the Liquid Glass interface, which was needed for sure. We now have a slider like iOS has, so we can use more or less of the glass effect.

The main story, though, is Siri AI finally becoming more useful on the Mac. It’s built into Spotlight, available as its own app for longer conversations, and can help with writing, file questions, Visual Intelligence shortcuts, and more contextual actions. Golden Gate also brings stronger Screen Time and parental controls, but there’s a major compatibility note: this looks like the end of Intel Mac support, and the newest

Table of Contents

  1. OCLP Users Warning
  2. Should You Install macOS Golden Gate?
  3. Full Apple Update Release List
  4. What’s New in macOS Golden Gate?
  5. Apple macOS Golden Gate Links
  6. macOS Golden Gate Beta Release History
  7. macOS Golden Gate Full Installer.app
  8. Apple Silicon macOS Golden Gate IPSW Restore File
  9. macOS Golden Gate Update Sizes
  10. Apple Silicon Firmware & iBoot Versions
  11. Safari Version
  12. Security Content of macOS Golden Gate
  13. macOS Golden Gate Release Notes
  14. Final Notes

NOTE: I hate website ads, but this one small Google ad below helps me with the cost of running Mr. Macintosh.com. Thank you!

1. OCLP Users Warning

OpenCore Legacy Patcher is not compatible with macOS Golden Gate or macOS Tahoe. Make sure you go into System Settings > Software Update and turn off Download Updates and Install macOS Updates.

If you use OCLP on an unsupported Mac, wait for official OpenCore Legacy Patcher 3.0.0 testing and compatibility information before attempting to install.

2. Should You Install macOS Golden Gate Beta?

Most users should not install macOS Golden Gate Beta 1 on their main Mac. This is early beta software, which means apps may crash, battery life may be reduced, accessories may not work correctly, and some features may be unfinished.

Install it only if you have a test Mac, a full backup, and a reason to test the new release early. I recommend two types of backups: Time Machine & A direct copy of your important files and apps

This might seem like a lot, but TRUST ME, it will be worth it if something goes wrong!

MacAdmins, developers, and advanced users can begin testing app compatibility, MDM enrollment, security tools, VPN clients, printers, FileVault workflows, software update behavior, and deployment processes.

3. Full Apple Update Release List

macOS

  • macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 1 — 26A5353q
  • macOS Tahoe 26.6 Beta 1 — Same version
  • macOS Sequoia 15.7.8 Beta 1 — Same version

Safari

  • Safari 27.0

Developer Tools

  • Xcode 27 beta
  • Command Line Tools for Xcode 27 beta

4. What’s New in macOS Golden Gate Beta 1?

Apple has released the first developer beta of macOS Golden Gate 27.

New Features & Changes

Liquid Glass Design Updates

macOS Golden Gate brings a more polished Liquid Glass design with better readability, improved contrast, more consistent toolbars, edge-to-edge sidebars, updated window shapes, and refreshed menu bar icons. Apple has also added a new slider that lets you adjust the Liquid Glass look from very clear to fully tinted.

Performance Improvements

Apple says the system should feel faster overall, with quicker AirDrop transfers, faster network file browsing, faster Safari start page loading, improved Mail search ranking, and better Spotlight search suggestions.

Siri AI on Mac

The biggest new feature is Siri AI on Mac. Siri can now answer more natural questions, understand personal context, take actions inside apps, work from Spotlight, and live inside a new dedicated Siri app for longer conversations.

Visual Intelligence

Visual Intelligence is also coming to the Mac, letting you ask questions about what’s on your screen and get help based on the content you’re looking at.

Writing Tools & Apple Intelligence

Golden Gate expands Writing Tools with Siri, adds better AI photo editing, improves Image Playground, and lets you create Shortcuts from plain-language descriptions.

Safari & Passwords

Safari gets smarter tab grouping, page-change alerts, and faster start page loading. Apple is also adding one-click password fixes to help update weak or reused passwords more easily.

Family, Safety & Accessibility

Golden Gate includes stronger child safety controls, improved Screen Time features, and new accessibility improvements across the system.

Other Notable Changes

Other smaller changes include ultrawide display upgrades, better iCloud Shared Albums, Call Context, enhanced Flyover in Maps, swipe-to-refresh in more apps, and a refreshed video podcasts experience.

5. Apple macOS Golden Gate Links

Official links will be added as Apple publishes more macOS Golden Gate documentation.

  • Apple Developer Site — macOS 27
  • macOS Beta Program Information
  • Apple Security Updates Page
  • Apple macOS Golden Gate Features Page

6. macOS Golden Gate Beta Release History

macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 1

  • Version: macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 1
  • Build: 26A5353q
  • Release Date: 06/08/26
  • Release Type: Developer Beta

7. macOS Golden Gate Full Installer.app

The full installer is useful if you want to create a USB installer, install macOS Golden Gate on another Mac, or archive the installer for testing.

Use this link to download the latest version of macOS Golden Gate Full installer AKA InstallAssistant.pkg

https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-golden-gate-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/

macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 1 Full Installer

  • Version: Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 1
  • Build: 26A5353q
  • Full Installer: Released
  • Size: 17.07GB

8. Apple Silicon macOS Golden Gate IPSW Restore File

An IPSW restore file is mainly used to restore or revive Apple Silicon Macs with Apple Configurator, Finder, or another Mac.

Most users do not need the IPSW file for normal macOS updates. IPSW files are intended for restores, revives, troubleshooting, clean installs, and testing workflows.

Use this link to download the full Mac IPSW restore file directly from Apple:

https://mrmacintosh.com/apple-silicon-m1-full-macos-restore-ipsw-firmware-files-database/

macOS Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 1 IPSW

  • Version: Golden Gate 27.0 Beta 1
  • Build: 26A5353q
  • IPSW Restore File: Released
  • Size: 22.57GB

9. macOS Golden Gate Update Sizes

Update sizes will vary depending on your Mac model and the version of macOS currently installed.

Update Size Information

  • Full Installer: 17.07GB
  • IPSW Restore File: 22.57GB
  • Delta Update: TBD
  • Combo Update: TBD

More update size details will be added after additional testing.

10. Apple Silicon Firmware & iBoot Versions

The Apple Silicon firmware and iBoot versions included with macOS Golden Gate Beta 1 are listed below.

  • Apple Silicon Firmware Version: 20356.0.0.0.15
  • Apple Silicon iBoot Version: 20356.0.0.0.15

11. Safari Version

macOS Golden Gate Beta 1 includes Safari 27.0.

  • Safari Version Included: Safari 27.0
  • Safari Security Content: Apple does not release security notes for beta software
  • WebKit Security Content: Apple does not release security notes for beta software

12. Security Content of macOS Golden Gate Beta 1

Apple does not publish full CVE security content for macOS beta releases.

This section will be updated if Apple publishes security details for macOS Golden Gate 27.

  • Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases
  • Safari Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases
  • WebKit Security Fixes: Not disclosed for beta releases

13. macOS Golden Gate Beta 1 Release Notes

This is the official link to Apple’s developer notes for macOS Golden Gate 27:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/macos-release-notes/macos-27-release-notes

14. Final Notes

If you install macOS Golden Gate Beta 1, make sure you have a full backup before proceeding. Beta software can cause app compatibility issues, performance problems, and data loss. Do not install this beta on your main Mac unless you are comfortable troubleshooting and restoring macOS.

The post macOS Golden Gate Beta 1 – Everything You Need to Know! appeared first on Mr. Macintosh.

  •  

macOS Golden Gate 27 Full Installer Links! Download Directly from Apple.

Download the macOS Golden Gate Full Installer – Public & Beta Versions.

This database will contain download links for macOS full Installer pkg files (InstallAssistant.pkg). This file is the same full installer that you would download directly from the App Store for Intel and Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3/M4 Mac Computers. The InstallAssistant.pkg is stored on Apple’s servers and contains the full “Install macOS.app”. Once downloaded, all you need to do is install the pkg and the full installer of macOS will be in your applications folder. This change was made when Apple revised the full installer for Big Sur. The InstallAssistant.pkg is not available for Catalina or Mojave.

UPDATED: 08/10/26

NOTE: I hate website ads, but this one small google ad below helps me with the cost of running Mr. Macintosh.com. Thank you!

macOS Golden Gate PUBLIC Full Installer

macOS 27 PUBLIC Version Build App Avail Date
Fall 2026          

 

macOS Golden Gate BETA Full Installer

macOS 27 BETA Version Build App Avail Date
InstallAssistant.pkg 27.0 26A5406e Beta 5 YES 8/10
InstallAssistant.pkg 27.0 26A5388g Public 2 YES 7/22
InstallAssistant.pkg 27.0 26A5388g Beta 4 YES 7/20
InstallAssistant.pkg 27.0 26A5378n Public 1 YES 7/13
InstallAssistant.pkg 27.0 26A5378j Beta 3 YES 7/06
InstallAssistant.pkg 27.0 26A5368g Beta 2 NO 6/22
InstallAssistant.pkg 27.0 26A5353q Beta 1 NO 6/08

 

NOTE: Depending on the browser you are using, you might need to right click and select “Copy link address”. Past this link into a new tab and it should start to download.

How to download previous versions of macOS

macOS Tahoe Full Installers –>

https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-tahoe-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/

macOS Sequoia Full Installers –>

https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-sequoia-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/

macOS Sonoma Full Installers –>

https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-sonoma-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/

macOS Ventura Full Installers –>

https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-ventura-13-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/

macOS Big Sur Full Installers –>

https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-big-sur-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/

If you are looking for macOS Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra or El Capitan look here –>

https://mrmacintosh.com/how-to-download-macos-catalina-mojave-or-high-sierra-full-installers/

If you are looking for Apple Silicon M1 Full macOS IPSW Restore files, go here >

mrmacintosh.com/apple-silicon-m1-full-macos-restore-ipsw-firmware-files-database/

The post macOS Golden Gate 27 Full Installer Links! Download Directly from Apple. appeared first on Mr. Macintosh.

  •  

Vídeo: veja a Siri AI em ação no macOS Golden Gate 27!

Depois de já termos publicado vários vídeos sobre as novidades do iOS 27, chegou a vez de começarmos a cobertura em vídeo do macOS Golden Gate 27 em nosso canal. E não tem jeito melhor de abrir essa série do que falando sobre a mudança mais aguardada do sistema: a Siri AI.

Neste primeiro vídeo, mostramos como funciona o novo app da Siri, os ajustes de voz disponíveis, as melhorias na busca do Spotlight, os recursos da Inteligência Visual a partir de screenshots e as ferramentas de escrita e revisão de texto integradas ao sistema.

Esse é só o primeiro de vários vídeos que estamos preparando sobre o macOS 27. Fique de olho no canal do MacMagazine para não perder os próximos! 😄


Apoio: UPDF

Este vídeo tem o apoio do UPDF, aplicativo equipado com inteligência artificial (IA) que já analisamos em detalhes aqui no site. Conheça mais esse belo editor de PDFs, obtenha-o com um desconto exclusivo e tenha acesso total ao UPDF Pro no Mac, no Windows, no iPad, no iOS e no Android pagando cerca de um quinto da suíte da Adobe!

  •  

First Look: macOS Golden Gate Public Beta

Let’s just get this out of the way: I liked macOS 26 Tahoe. I liked it because it marked the first time in years where Apple seemed to embrace the fact that Mac users deserve productivity improvements, not just syncing up with whatever (often useful, yes) new features were being introduced to iOS.

I didn’t like the interface changes, especially the way the redesign handled toolbars and sidebars. It actually felt like macOS dodged a bullet by being treated as an afterthought, because pouring more Liquid Glass atop macOS would have made the situation even worse. But over the last summer, I got used to the interface offenses and instead focused on all the improvements.

Turns out that at least some of my friends and colleagues decided that Tahoe’s interface offenses were too great to bear, and despite all those tasty new productivity boosts, they would sit this one out and hope that Apple came to its senses with macOS 27.

Good news for them: While they’ve spent a year without Apple’s first native clipboard history, Shortcuts automation and AI access, and an improved Spotlight, their upgrade to macOS 27 Golden Gate will net them last year’s features as well as a host of other improvements, all wrapped in an interface that is an unequivocal improvement over what Tahoe wrought.

To those folks, welcome back to the current OS version. To those of us who spent a year floating on the glassy surface of Tahoe, welcome to Golden Gate. Available today as a Public Beta and arriving on every Apple silicon-based Mac this fall, it’s an update I’m not going to have to spend a year apologizing for liking.

Design takes a step forward

The fact that there are more design changes in macOS than any of Apple’s other 27 updates speaks volumes about how broken many of the Tahoe design decisions were. Apple describes the design as “even more refined,” because in Apple marketing-speak, broken features are never remedied or fixed—past features are just improved. The truth is, Apple has rolled back numerous missteps and made changes to others to mitigate the issues they caused.

Floating glass sidebars inset from window edges—a choice that made sense metaphorically, but looked awful—are gone, essentially reverted to their previous design, sitting at the left edge of windows, with a darker background for contrast and colored icons to boot.

Screenshot of two macOS Finder windows.
Compare and contrast macOS Tahoe (top) and macOS Golden Gate (bottom): Windows are a little less rounded, toolbars float a little more clearly and buttons are more defined, and sidebar icons are colored.

Toolbars, one of the most important interface conventions of macOS, were flattened and ghostly in Tahoe. In Golden Gate, they pick up better shading and are more legible, though (strangely) the toolbar in inactive windows offers more contrast and legibility than in active ones! In Photos, toolbars are actual bars, not horizontal areas of floating glassy buttons—which means the system no longer has to attempt to add shading behind those areas in order to improve legibility. They’re just legible.

In Golden Gate, windows generally just feel… a bit more square. Apple has made window corners more consistent, and not having the curved corners of the sidebar right inside the curved corners of the window edge also helps make it feel a little less like you’re under the tyrannical rule of the Circle King.

Screenshot of Apple Photos on macOS Tahoe and Golden Gate
Compare and contrast macOS Tahoe (top and middle) and macOS Golden Gate (bottom): The Photos toolbar is back, and there’s no longer a distracting fade effect between two different button styles depending on the content scrolling underneath. You can also see the reattached toolbar to the left.

Icons look better across the board in Golden Gate, probably because of a new layered icon compositing approach Apple is taking across its platforms. Unfortunately, apps that dare stick any of their extremities out of the mandated squircle shape are still put in a featureless gray box of shame, which makes it harder to identify icons, especially in appearance modes like Clear and Tinted that remove color as an identifier.

To hear Apple tell it, users are split on the transparency effect of Liquid Glass: some people despise it, and some people can’t get enough of it. As a result, all of Apple’s OS 27 updates introduce a slider—it’s in the Appearances pane of Settings on macOS—that lets you customize the transparency from sort-of-mostly-transparent to sort-of-mostly-opaque. Given that this update rolls back a lot of Apple’s decisions from a year ago, I’m inclined to believe that there really are two camps when it comes to Liquid Glass. Giving users an option to adjust the setting is probably fine, though I’ve currently got the slider right in the center. We’ll see how that goes.

Siri AI takes the Spotlight

Siri has been a part of the Mac experience for a decade now, arriving on the platform five years after it debuted on the iPhone. While I’m sure that many Mac users have embraced it over the years, it has always been an afterthought at best for me. When I’m sitting at my Mac, I’ve got a keyboard and trackpad to get my job done, so I don’t generally feel the need to talk to my computer. And while you’ve been able to type to Siri for a while now… well, the other problem with Siri has always been that Siri’s results are rarely as useful as the results of typing those words into a search engine or some other tool.

In macOS Golden Gate, as with all the other OS 27-era releases, Apple has upgraded Siri to become Siri AI, with LLM-derived features that promise much better results. On top of that, Apple has finally done what it should have done long ago and merged Siri and Spotlight, so there are no longer two separate “type to find things” interfaces on the platform.

The result is… still a work in progress, at least so far. Siri AI is a beta feature inside a beta operating system. Betas within betas. First off, it’s a struggle to remember that Siri is actually useful and I should take advantage of it. Years of training myself never to consider Siri have to be untrained, and that’s going to take some time.

Thus far, I’ve found Siri AI’s responses to general-knowledge queries to be very good. But part of the appeal of Siri AI is its integration with your personal on-device data. This is where things start to fall apart, though this is not surprising—it’s an early beta, and many third-party apps will need to update to better integrate with this system. I don’t use Apple’s default calendar or email apps, which puts me at a disadvantage. It frequently failed to answer fairly basic questions about files on my system—”where’s that PDF that contains my company’s tax ID number?”—that I’d hope that a smart assistant with access to my entire Mac should be able to find.

There’s also the question of Siri/Spotlight choosing the right context. When you type Command-Space, Spotlight comes to the fore—and that’s good, because if you want to use it as an app launcher, you want instant responsiveness. When I typed a question that’s more appropriate for Siri, however, I found I needed to wait a few seconds for “Ask Siri” to appear so I could ask my query.

Screenshot of file browser showing 'atpm' folder with Audio Files; context menu open with options: Ask Siri, Open, Open With, Move to Trash.
Ask Siri has been welded onto the top of contextual menus. It feels wrong and seems needy.

There’s a new Ask Siri entry that’s been added to the top of every contextual menu, and while I don’t mind the idea that Siri can act on just about any context you can think of on the Mac, I don’t love how it’s implemented. The contextual menu used to open with all of its contents down and to the right of the pointer (unless you were too far to the right or bottom of the screen); now it starts shifted down a little bit, as if the old context menu was being drawn and then an Ask Siri item was being overlaid right at the top of the menu, sticking up over it. It’s darker than the rest of the menu. If you click on it, it floats forward, the rest of the menu disappears, and you can type in the resulting box. It’s disconcerting every time I right-click on something.

The most useful actions tend to be placed at the top, and I’m not convinced that even a fully functional Ask Siri would always be the most useful command in a context. This feels more like a weird add-on to existing context menus, and all to promote the new Siri features. Apple, if a feature is good, users will use it. Distorting the geography of context menus on the Mac to promote them feels aggressive and almost desperate.

Touchscreen Macs, at last?

One of the most remarkable features of macOS Golden Gate does not really make sense if you take it at face value: Apple has given a major upgrade to Sidecar, the feature introduced in 2019 that allows Macs to use iPads as external Mac displays. As someone who always travels with a 13-inch iPad Pro, that’s a nice feature, though since the 2022 introduction of Universal Control, which lets me use my Mac’s keyboard and mouse on an iPad still running iPadOS, I’ve found very little use for Sidecar.

The big update is that Sidecar, which previously only supported the Apple Pencil, now works with the iPad’s touchscreen. Apple has updated its own apps and supplied third-party apps with the appropriate tools to support full touchscreen support. You can now scroll Mac browser windows with a finger and drag windows around on screen… but only on that iPad you’re using as an extra display.

It’s not hard to read between the lines: As numerous reports have suggested, Apple is planning on releasing its first touch-enabled MacBooks late this year or early next year. Using Sidecar as a way to demo the technology and allow developers to test their apps in advance is really clever.

Beyond that, this feature is delightfully boring. It just does more or less what you’d expect. Adding touch to macOS isn’t going to be revolutionary—it’s been on Windows for ages, and iPads have had optional trackpads and keyboards for six years now. But it’ll be a nice incremental benefit. I still use touch gestures when I’m working on an iPad in laptop configuration, because sometimes it just makes ergonomic sense. If my hands aren’t on the keyboard and I need to scroll something or tap something, a quick poke with my finger does the job. It feels natural—and once you’ve spent some time with that configuration, it’s jarring to use a Mac laptop and realize that you’re poking the screen to no effect.

After a moment’s glee in being able to scroll a Finder window with my finger, using Sidecar with touch to drive the Mac interface just became… normal. Apple has done a good job implementing the feature. Menus drop down reliably. Buttons are tappable. Scrolling works. There’s just not a lot to report, and that’s just fine. It works.

Shortcuts, reduced and enhanced

The Shortcuts app, the cornerstone of Apple’s cross-platform automation technologies, gets a notable upgrade during this cycle. Most of it is probably due to the needs of Describe a Shortcut, a remarkable new feature that lets you input some text and then watch as your device converts it into a Shortcut. As I wrote in June:

This is as close as we’ve come, across 40 years, to the original dream of putting computer power in the hands of everyone. You can literally tell your device what you want it to do, and when—”every morning show me my to-dos and calendar events for the day”—and it will generate a program to do it and a schedule to run it…

But when it works, which is most of the time, it’s magical. And perhaps its best feature is that you can iterate on your Shortcuts. If there’s something it doesn’t do quite right the first time, you can specify changes you’d like to see—”only show me items from my Personal calendar”—and it’ll rewrite the Shortcut to take those changes into account. In that way, it’s emulating the back-and-forth conversations that can make vibe coding so remarkable.

Describe a Shortcut is limited, but it really works quite well. I hope it continues to grow and improve, because it lowers the bar for user automation across Apple’s platforms in a delightful way.

Screenshot of Apple Shortcuts app showing 'Six Colors' folder selected. Left sidebar: Gallery, Automation, Library, Folders, Main panel shortcuts, Right panel green preview.
Shortcuts will analyze and describe any of your shortcuts, but that right pane needs to be hideable.

For those of us still building Shortcuts with our own fingers like animals, some of the other improvements will help that work get done. There’s a new Otherwise If statement that can be added to If-Else blocks (you get to it by control-clicking on the Else block and then choosing Add “Otherwise If”), making the structuring of branching shortcuts logic much, much simpler.

There’s also support for persistent data storage, which is kind of huge. You can save data, which syncs via iCloud and is accessible across your devices, and Shortcuts can both access it and update it! That will make Shortcuts capable of behaving more like other apps, all without having to rig up other ways of storing data in iCloud Drive or elsewhere. (Yes, this canonizes Simon Støvring’s Data Jar in Apple’s OS, and that’s a good thing.)

The arrival of Describe a Shortcut has unfortunately distorted the Shortcuts interface in some unfortunate ways. On the Mac, there’s a new three-paned interface, where the third pane is a giant preview of a shortcut’s color, icon, and (this is fun) an AI-generated summary of what the shortcut does. The pane exists because of the text box at the bottom, which lets you type input to Describe a Shortcut to make changes to whatever shortcut you’ve got selected. Which is fine, except it’s an enormous amount of screen space devoted to something that may be entirely irrelevant. Somehow, Shortcuts won’t let you hide this pane.

New horizons for Photos

During WWDC week, I wrote about the changes to Photos this year, but just to reprise:

Apple has finally updated its Shared Albums feature, which had been compromised since it launched because it didn’t offer the ability to share full-resolution images. Over the years, Apple added other methods of sharing groups of photos via iCloud, and those could include full-resolution images, but this one prominent feature felt stuck in the past.

Now it’s getting a proper upgrade, with support for full-resolution images and allowing for full collaboration with people on other platforms so that everyone can contribute to a shared photo album. I’m relieved that I will soon have to stop explaining the differences among the various ways to share items in Photos and warning people away from Shared Albums.

As for the three AI-powered features in Photos, they’re a mixed bag. I have high hopes for a much improved Clean Up, which was already okay but could be a lot better. The new version is much more adept at artfully clipping unwanted items out of an image and filling those areas with in-context imagery, though of course it’s not perfect.

The other two features, Extend and Spatial Reframe, require the use of an advanced diffusion model that’s only available via Private Cloud Compute, and as a result, they take time to execute, since Photos will need to upload your photo, wait for a result, and then download the result.

Comparing an extension of a scene from WWDC26.
Extend added people, scaffolding, and trees to this shot. (Original frame inverted for reference.)

Extend feels like a good feature, since there are plenty of scenarios where your image needs just a little more headroom or width. It’s also going to be great for straightening images, since Extend can fill in the slivers of unknown image that are exposed when you rotate, which otherwise require that your image be cropped as you rotate.

However, every pixel you expand the selection increases the jeopardy that what’s going to be generated is weird or fake. Everyone’s mileage may vary, but I found that I was much more comfortable expanding a photo a little bit to gain some headroom than doing it a lot, forcing the AI system to invent more objects or scenes. I was occasionally frustrated that I couldn’t slightly extend the bottom of some images, where subjects’ legs or feet were cut off. Also, you have to be aware of incredible fabrications—extending a graduation photo added a gigantic floating tassel and an invented piece of furniture, and extending a stadium shot added a roof where there isn’t one. Judicious use, carefully analyzed, is my advice.

Then there’s Spatial Reframe, which brings together a load of existing Apple technologies, including the spatial scanning algorithm it used to create spatial photos on Vision Pro. This feature works by scanning your photo locally using that algorithm, inferring a depth map that is then used to build a 3-D version of the image that you can pivot a bit, up and down, and left and right. This is the effect that allows you, on the Vision Pro, to feel like you can move your head and see parallaxes shifting, even though, if you look closely, the exposed content behind a subject is just a simple generative fill. It all happens so quickly, and in service of a live 3-D effect, that it’s often not noticeable, and even when it is, it’s not that big a deal.

The bar is a lot higher for a fixed, 2-D photo at full resolution. So after you use Spatial Reframe to slightly move the perspective of a shot, all the data is sent up to Private Cloud Compute, where a new version of your shot is rendered—including much more advanced generation of all of those pixels that are revealed by parallax or at the edges of the frame.

Some results are more synthetic than others. Unlike Extend, Spatial Reframe changes the entire perspective of the picture, which requires everything visible to be re-rendered at full quality. The result sometimes feels artificial. Again, my first impression is for people to use this feature with care and caution.

There are a handful of other nice, new Photos features, including new Captured By Me and Identity Documents sections (quick, find that photo of my passport!), and a triumphant return of star ratings for individual photos.

Wait, there’s more…

There are so many small enhancements in Golden Gate that it’s hard to mention them all, and every time I turn around, I keep bumping into more of them. Keeping in mind that we’re entering the long cruise to the fall release of the final version, here are some other highlights so far:

  • Apple has added some light menu-bar management, specifically to deal with items that overflow the notch on some MacBook models. I’m glad that it’s taken this tentative step, though I wish it were more—it’s okay, Apple, you can sherlock all those menu-bar-management utilities out there1—and of course, it should’ve happened back when the notch first appeared (checks notes) nearly five years ago. Better late than never, I guess.
  • Safari’s now got an AI-driven tab organizer, so if you’re someone who keeps a zillion tabs open, you can have Safari group them into smaller, more navigable clusters. I’m not a zillion-tabs person, but I noticed that this approach is also being applied to the Start Page, where recently viewed pages also now appear clustered by topic.

  • The Passwords app gets an injection of agentic AI through a new feature that offers to change your compromised or easy-to-guess passwords for you, navigating various websites and generating new, high-security passwords automatically. It’s a clever idea, but the most unfinished of any feature in the beta. It managed to change three of the 39 passwords it attempted. If you were trying to break into my Ikea account, well, you’re going to need to order more Kallax shelves on someone else’s dime now.

  • Both Finder and the document save option in the menu bar will scan the contents of a file and offer up naming suggestions. I didn’t love the suggestions it offered, but your mileage may vary. I’d like to see this feature applied to auto-generated filenames like screenshots, though!

file name suggestion
A file name suggestion based on the file’s content.

A note about stability

This summer, the vibe has been that Apple’s 27 releases are very stable for betas, which is not surprising since improved stability and reliability have been key Apple goals. And I would agree, I’ve been running the developer beta on my main Mac since the week after WWDC, and it’s been mostly fine.

But don’t be fooled: These are betas, and they will do weird stuff. I have to occasionally reboot my Mac to get things working normally. Shortcuts just stop working, and then start working again, willy-nilly. Third-party apps frequently quit unexpectedly, or refuse to quit at all and hang out in my Dock forever! And as I mentioned above, my menu bar manager is busted, though the developers are working on it.

If you’re willing to put up with the quirks in exchange for a glimpse at the future of the Mac, jump in. If you refused Tahoe entirely, you are in for an extra treat. And if you’d rather just wait… relax. Fall will be here before you know it.


  1. It’s worth noting that Apple’s changes to the menu bar seem to have broken compatibility with existing menu bar utilities. They’ll need to be updated. If you rely on them and want to jump into the Public Beta, be warned. ↩
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WWDC 2026: No, Tahoe—yes, Golden Gate

Apple’s pattern of updates is often described as two beats, maybe like the lub-dub sound of your heart: a year of big changes, followed by a year of tweaks that feature just a couple of marquee improvements.1 The 27 series of operating systems marks a big dub year, but there’s a backbeat to the rhythm, too, as Apple retreats from what most of us believe were overreaches in the interface department.

Liquid Glass was not beloved. I didn’t mind it so much on the Mac, and I found some iPhone and iPad improvements worthwhile, and the rest tolerable. Some people hated it. John Gruber notably decided to hold off on updating his primary Mac to Tahoe. Apple ironically highlighted a slider in its WWDC keynote that one could describe as “mostly forget about Liquid Glass,” with an option from “full-on, nobody wanted this” to “as close to zero as we can go without breaking the interface.” Good.

Screenshot of Liquid Glass controls: button, Tahoe, left; slider and web page preview, Golden Gate, right
No (Tahoe, button, left). Yes (Golden Gate, slider, right).

Stacey Ford, Apple’s Vice President of OS Program Management, called out a broad mandate in the keynote. “We scoured every part of the OS for opportunities to refine our systems from the UI to the foundations,” she said. “Nothing was off limits, no enhancement too small.” In other words, there are no sacred cows leftover from the design team that left, and maybe Ford and her group hate the same things that we do, and they’ve been given the authority to fix them.

Maybe as a consequence, Liquid Glass will improve legibility through several changes, which you’ll see even with the slider set to zero. The layers of Liquid Glass elements will now be rendered so that the diffusion of the underlying material won’t interfere as much with legibility. When content moves beneath a floating bar, the bar will now—shocking!—float on top and increase contrast to keep its contents comprehensible, too. Edges will now be darker, and icons sharper.

Gruber despised a secondary macOS change perhaps as much as Liquid Glass: the tiny icons on drop-down menus that were unhelpful, patronizing, and inconsistent across apps. Those are effectively gone now, with new guidance from Apple that is nearly contemptuous of the one-year glitch in the approach.

Screenshot of Tahoe (left) and Golden Gate Finder menus side by side
No (left, Tahoe). Yes (right, Golden Gate).

A lot of digital ink was also spilled about corner radii, dragging, and consistency with macOS 26. So much so that Apple’s Shubham Kedia—Director, Human Interface—said in the keynote this remarkable phrase: “…every window on macOS now has the same tighter corner radius ensuring greater consistency across all of your apps, even if they haven’t been updated.” It’s the weirdest time in the company’s history that an Apple leader had to utter those words, but there you go, and there was mostly rejoicing. The lower-right-corner drag area appears fixed, too, in my testing with the first beta.

Screenshot from Apple WWDC keynote showing consistent rounded corners in Golden Gate.
Yes (rounded corners that have consistent radii in Golden Gate). (Source: Apple)

Tahoe’s other missteps that will be drawn back to the norm include ending the weirdly inset sidebars, such as in Photos, which now extend to the edges; the mouse-over hand cursor has mostly reverted to pre-Tahoe format, with slightly different finger positions, and indications that it’s a Mickey Mouse-style glove; and even the default wallpaper has rolled backwards, with iOS, iPadOS, and macOS all having access to the same set, if that’s the kind of thing you like.

Screenshot of Tahoe Photos with inset sidebar
No (Tahoe, inset sidebar in Photos).
Screenshot of Golden Gate Photos with flush sidebar
Yes (Golden Gate, flush sidebar in Photos).

More generally, I heard grumblings and read long essays about the instability people experienced with Tahoe, and still do, even though we’re at version 26.5. Often, the “tweak” year involves thousands of under-the-hood fixes. Apple was more frank about making things better this year than it has been since, I want to say, the year after Yosemite.2 It would be like Microsoft making fun of blue screens of death.

Apple’s Ford said, “We made things faster, smoother, even easier to use, and we took care of a bunch of things you’ve been asking about.” She later described speed improvements in iOS and iPadOS app launch times, a fix for a long-running Wi-Fi/cellular poor handoff issue, a complete overhaul of Spotlight, and much more. She noted, “We’ve all had that moment where you search for something you know is there, but it just won’t show up. So on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, we’ve rebuilt the foundation of search that powers Spotlight, Photos, and Mail.” That is a heck of an admission of the truth we experience day to day—almost un-Apple-like.

There’s more I won’t enumerate in detail, such as the “OS improvements” section that appears on Apple’s sites for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, in which Apple confesses to imperfections and proclaims it has solved them. Because all iPhones, most iPads,3 a few Apple Watches,4 and all M-series Macs (but no Intel Macs) that could run version 26 can run 27, no harm, no foul, right? Just took a year.

These rollbacks and improvements may finally push people like Gruber to, er, cross the Golden Gate in a way that they could never bring themselves to plunge into the imperfect, quirky, and irritating waters of Tahoe. Because of how Apple pushes users to upgrade, I expect that iPhone and iPad users may find more relief, as they’re running the current release!

For further reading (and writing)

My summer’s work will include a lot of reading to write updates for around 10 Take Control Books titles. I’ll also be working to keep a new micro-site, currently called Apple Specs, up to date, where you can look up operating system and hardware features to figure out which devices and releases support them. I welcome feedback via a link on each page of the site.


  1. This year, those are Siri AI, Apple Intelligence integration more generally—and maybe child-related safety and app-usage tools? ↩
  2. Yosemite was a doozy of a stinker. ↩
  3. The 8th-generation iPad was introduced in 2020, so it’s a bit long in the tooth by some standards. However, I’d like to understand why it could run iPadOS 26 and not 27. For a complete list of iPad compatibility, see Apple’s iPadOS 27 preview page. ↩
  4. Discussed in many forums, this is the biggest blow. watchOS 27 supports only Series 9 and later, SE 3 and later, and Ultra 2 and later. This feels like a big mistake, particularly if Apple winds up with any requirements for having the 27 releases on all devices on an Apple Account, as it has for certain feature rollouts in the pass, usually for security. ↩
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Como instalar a beta pública do macOS 27 Golden Gate no seu Mac

Conheça o macOS Golden Gate, a beta pública da Apple com Siri aprimorada e design Liquid Glass, e saiba como instalar com segurança.

O post Como instalar a beta pública do macOS 27 Golden Gate no seu Mac apareceu primeiro em Blog do Edivaldo - Informações e Notícias sobre Linux.

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