macOS Tahoe creeps ever closer, and while we’re expecting the full release to go live next month, Developer Beta 5 just revealed more of the changes to expect.
While we’re digging into what’s changed (with Apple seemingly finding a sweet spot for liquid glass after a few tweaks in earlier versions), we’ve already spotted a trio of tweaks that show nothing is sacred this year — not even the longstanding Macintosh HD icon.
Here are three new changes that will be coming to the best MacBooks and Mac desktops.
A new Macintosh HD icon
Starting there, then, with a surprising update that feels as though it’s been a long time coming.
The Macintosh HD icon has long looked like a spinning disk drive, but Mac hardware has had SSD drives as standard for years now, making it a bit of a relic of a bygone era.
Now, there’s a new, sleeker icon that ushers in a new age. But, as ever, you can expect to be able to upload custom icons if you’d prefer.
New wallpapers
Sticking with some visual changes, it’s a relatively small one but the macOS Beta wallpaper is now the Tahoe wallpaper.
There’s a screensaver, too, which moves in a wave-like way, as well as three Tahoe landscape shots for Morning, Evening, and Night, which are nice.
Borders and window changes
While Apple seems to have dialled in Liquid Glass now, the company is still making tweaks to app windows.
Now, a system-wide change has removed the borders from around apps, and updated the UI coloring to make windows stand out more — which also feels more uniform when you have a screen full of them.
When will macOS Tahoe 26 launch?
While the public beta is also live for macOS Tahoe 26, we don’t have a firm release date. Still, we can hazard a guess thanks to the annual release cadence, and we’d therefore be very surprised if it doesn’t ship towards the end of September 2025.
Of course, it's worth noting here that this is a developer beta. If you want to see these new features for yourself, make sure you backup your Mac before you do so!
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