Apple Seeds Third macOS Tahoe Public Beta

Apple today provided public beta testers with a third beta of macOS Tahoe, the newest version of macOS that's set to launch this fall. The third beta comes one week after the second ‌macOS Tahoe‌ public beta, and it corresponds to the sixth developer beta.

macOS Tahoe 26 Thumb 2
Public beta testers can download ‌macOS Tahoe‌ from the Software Update section of the Settings app after signing up for the betas on Apple's website.

‌macOS Tahoe‌ has the same Liquid Glass design as iOS 26, and it extends to app icons, folders, the Dock, in-app navigation, menus, the Control Center, and the Menu Bar. The Control Center and the Menu Bar are customizable, and you're also able to customize folders, app icons, and widgets.

macos tahoe design
Safari has an updated tab design and a redesigned sidebar, and Apple has brought the Phone app to the Mac for making phone calls through Wi-Fi Calling. The Phone app supports the new Call Screening and Hold Assist features.

Spotlight has been overhauled with improved search and the ability to execute hundreds of actions without opening up an app. There's a new Games app with a Game Overlay feature, and developers have access to Metal 4.

More on what's new can be found in our macOS Tahoe roundup.

Related Roundup: macOS Tahoe
Related Forum: macOS Tahoe

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Top Rated Comments

Nik Avatar
25 weeks ago
I miss bug fix releases like Snow Leopard back in the day.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Selena Agna Avatar
25 weeks ago
Looking forward to see what text they've rendered unreadable this time because they're married to their Liquid Glass high concept instead of basic usability.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sleeptodream Avatar
25 weeks ago

Launchpad is still gone, right?
I’m not downgrading until it’s back or there’s an alternative app.
Have you tried putting the Applications folder in the dock? I’ve always found this to be faster and more convenient than Launchpad. Idk why it isn’t there by default, honestly
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
q64ceo Avatar
25 weeks ago
I would like Launchpad to return. Been an important part of my macOS experience since Lion.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
oneMadRssn Avatar
25 weeks ago

I miss bug fixing releases like Snow Leopard back in the day.
Snow Leopard was not a bug fix release. It was a huge rewrite of major parts of OS X, removing native PowerPC support, and transitioning to the new (at the time) OpenCL, Cocoa, and 64-bit frameworks. At launch it was actually MUCH buggier than Leopard (as expected for major rewrite) until patched to ~10.6.5 about a year later.

Don't get me wrong, once the bugs were ironed out, Snow Leopard was amazing and ran super fast and I loved it. But this meme of it being a "bug fix release" is just false and needs to die.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anthony131 Avatar
25 weeks ago

The functionality is still there. You just press Cmd+Space to open spotlight and click Apps, there they all are.
That is not at all the same functionality. It’s a wholly different user experience and one that is measurably less efficient and just plain stupid. “Cmd space and click apps” is already too much effort compared to using launchpad.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)