macOS 26 Tahoe is the latest major version of macOS, released on September 15, 2025. As soon as all core applications have been confirmed to function correctly, the upgrade will be made available to eligible general use Macs. Since the management changes are few and compatibility is generally good, this will be sooner (October) rather than later (December, the latest we can defer).
For classroom and other computer lab environments, the computers will be upgraded to the new OS when all academic software is confirmed compatible, but not before the end of the fall semester.
New look and feel
- "Liquid Glass" user interface featuring more transparency. The transparency can be toned down if desired, via System Settings > Accessibility > Display > Reduce transparency.
- Colored folders: if a tag is applied to a folder, the folder icon now takes on the color of the tag by default. Right-click or [control]-select a folder and choose "Customize" to add an icon to the folder.
- New icons and window elements (buttons, edges, etc). Corners are more rounded. Safari windows take on a key color in a web page.
- New application icons: if a 3rd party application has not had its icon updated yet, it will show up with a grey "squircle" (rounded box) background. This does not indicate a problem with the app itself.
Functional updates
- New Control Center options for layout and buttons.
- Launchpad is replaced by a categorical Apps viewer that is displayed as a window instead of taking over the screen.
- Spotlight allows searching for and launching actions.
Find out more
The full list of new and notable features of macOS 26 can be found at Apple's website. Note that some of the new advertised features may not be available on MHC-owned devices due to privacy and security differences between institutionally-owned and consumer-owned devices.