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Apple kicked off WWDC 2026, not by talking up Siri’s added AI smarts or explaining new iOS 27 features. No, it started by slapping a name on the next version of MacOS. With the help of a VW bus driving by, Apple software chief Craig Federighi introduced MacOS 27 Golden Gate.
I associate hippies and the summer of love with the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood rather than the Golden Gate bridge, but I suppose you’d need to drive your bus across the Golden Gate if you wanted to hang out in The Haight. If you were coming in from Marin County anyway.
Based on the results of CNET’s Big Guessing Game, Apple threw us a curveball with Golden Gate. It was not among the top guesses that included Redwood, Shasta, Mammoth, Big Bear and Emerald Bay.
MacOS Golden Gate: Siri AI and Liquid Glass slider
After introducing the polarizing Liquid Glass design last year, this year’s WWDC update is more about performance and stability improvements than a radical design shift. Think tighter corner radii on windows rather than an entirely new look. Apple promises Golden Gate will feel more responsive with snappier animations and a rebuilt search that’s more efficient and comprehensive so you can find things faster in Spotlight, Photos and Mail.
Apple promises that search in MacOS Golden Gate will be faster and better.
With Spotlight Search, you can also engage the new Siri AI and “Ask Siri.” The revamped assistant will be able to understand personal context, complete actions in apps and be aware of what’s on your screen, thanks to Apple’s Visual Intelligence. Siri AI will also get its own standalone app so that you can return to a conversation or ping pong between your Mac, iPhone and iPad within the Siri app. Siri AI will be available only in English at the start, but more languages are set to be added later.
The Liquid Glass look isn’t going away, but you can tone down the transparency effects. Apple added a slider so you can find the sweet spot between clear and tinted. There’s also a more uniform toolbar at the top of apps that’s meant to make labels and headers easier to read.
Mac sidebars will now expand to the very edge of a window and retain their color to make it clearer which window is which and which window is active. Lastly, Apple added some new polish to app icons that adds more Liquid Glass layers, which Apple says will make icons sharper and more defined.
MacOS Golden Gate keeps the Liquid Glass design introduced with last year’s Tahoe but adds a slider to control its transparency effects.
Golden Gate bridge safety
With the affordable MacBook Neo making it more likely that younger kids will be using a MacBook, I’m happy to see MacOS Golden Gate includes some added safety features.
To keep your kids safe from inappropriate web sites and dark corners of the web, the new Ask to Browse feature will send parents a message asking for permission when their kid tries to access a new website.
The communication safety feature has been expanded to block violent images and videos in Messages, FaceTime and other apps in addition to its current protection against kids viewing or sharing images or videos that contain nudity.
A new Screen Time Schedule in settings lets parents set time limits across app categories such entertainment, games, and social media.
Touchscreen MacBook clue?
One curious item leads me to believe Apple will release a touchscreen MacBook within the next 12 months –before the next MacOS update. If the rumored touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro gets released on the MacOS Golden Gate timeline, then Apple can’t wait unitl the next version to add a few touch-friendly features.
At the bottom of Apple’s MacOS 27 Golden Gate page, there’s a new feature called “Swipe down to refresh” with a little icon that certainly brings to mind a finger touching a screen. The feature describes a very iPhone- or iPad-like ability to swipe down in an app like Safari, Mail, News, Podcasts or Calendar to refresh it.
Could you soon be swiping down on a touchscreen MacBook to refresh an app?
Are we finally arriving at the day of Mac and iPad convergence that Scott Stein has long dreamed of?
MacOS Golden Gate: Device support
Macs with Apple’s M-series chips will be able to update to MacOS 27 Golden Gate, from the M1 and onward, including the A18 Pro-based MacBook Neo. Which Macs can’t make the move to Golden Gate? Older Macs with Intel processors that Apple used before it began making its own chips.
The following Macs that can currently run MacOS 26 Tahoe will not support MacOS 27 Golden Gate:
- 13-inch MacBook Pro (2020, four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- 16-inch MacBook Pro (2019)
- 27-inch iMac (2020)
- Mac Pro (2019)
It’s not all bad news if you’d like to squeeze out another year or two of your Intel Mac: Apple will continue to issue security updates to Intel-based Macs for three more years.
If you have a Mac with Apple silicon and use Rosetta 2 to run x86 apps built for Intel chips, you should know that Rosetta 2 support is ending soon. It isn’t going away this year, but MacOS Golden Gate will be the last version to support Rosetta 2.
The developer beta of MacOS Golden Gate is out now. A public beta is expected in July before the official version of MacOS 27 Golden Gate launches in September.
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