macOS 27 to Refine Liquid Glass and Address Tahoe Quirks
Apple is preparing a "slight redesign" for macOS 27 to address some of the design quirks
Apple is preparing a "slight redesign" for macOS 27 to address some of the design quirks that drew criticism in macOS Tahoe, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman reported that the next version of macOS will refine Apple's Liquid Glass design language rather than replace it. The update is said to focus on the use of shadows and transparency, two areas that prompted user complaints about contrast and readability after macOS 26 Tahoe shipped last year.
A Refinement, Not a Replacement
Liquid Glass itself is not going away. Gurman said the design is "simply being refined," and that the changes are intended to make the interface look the way Apple's design team originally intended.
According to the report, Tahoe did not suffer from a flawed design so much as a "not-completely-baked implementation" from Apple's software engineering team. The macOS 27 update is meant to close that gap.
iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 are also expected to include interface tweaks, though Gurman said nothing about those updates will be too dramatic. The changes are described as a cleanup and refinement effort that aligns with Apple's wider push to polish its software this year.
What Could Change
The specific tweaks Gurman pointed to involve transparency and shadows, the two elements most commonly cited in user feedback on Tahoe. Apple has already shipped some Liquid Glass adjustments through point updates to macOS 26 and iOS 26, including a "Tinted" option that increases opacity and a Lock Screen clock opacity slider on iPhone.
It is not yet clear how the macOS 27 changes will be exposed to users, or whether Apple plans to revisit the system-wide Liquid Glass slider it was reportedly working on for iOS 26 before running into engineering challenges.
Safari Tab Groups and visionOS
Gurman's newsletter also touched on two other items. Apple is said to be testing a feature in Safari that would automatically organize groups of tabs, though further details were not provided. He also addressed Vision Pro and this year's visionOS update, signaling more on those topics in the same edition of Power On.
Release Timing
Apple is expected to unveil macOS 27, iOS 27, iPadOS 27, watchOS 27, and visionOS 27 at WWDC 2026, which is scheduled to begin Monday, June 8. A developer beta typically follows the keynote, with a public beta arriving in July and a wide release in the fall.
Apple has not commented on the report.
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