Summary
Apple’s next software updates are shaping up. WWDC saw the introduction of both iOS 26 and macOS 26 Tahoe, which will make their way to iPhones and Macs by the end of this year. Now, the first actual beta is here, giving us a look at a slightly more polished product.
Apple today released the first public betas for its next operating system updates, iOS 26 and macOS 26. Before this, we had developer previews—anyone could download them, but they were mostly meant for developers to get a hang on a lot of the new things that were coming with the update. This is the first “proper” beta version, and while it’s still a pre-release thing, it resembles more closely what will launch as stable software later this year. This new update matches the fourth developer preview version that was released earlier, so they should be functionally identical, other than the fact that this one is marked as a public beta.
Yet again, the standout feature in this update is the new “Liquid Glass” design language—system elements like icons, navigation bars, and menus are designed to look as if they are refracting and reflecting light through subtle, dynamic animations. Personally, I like it a lot—it’s reminiscent of what Microsoft used to have with Aero on Windows Vista/Windows 7 over a decade ago. But the initial version was a bit of a mess, and Apple haskept on redesigning itto improve things like readability under different, non-optimal conditions.
Apple notably kept toning down some effects, and with this update, we’re actually seeing Apple roll back some of these tone downs to make it look closer to what we had in the very first preview. The company will probably continue to tweak things based on user feedback to find that sweet spot between “looking pretty” and not interfering with usability, so I wouldn’t say it’s finished just yet.
Aside from this, there’s nothing that’s really “new” in this update other than minor background tweaks. We already know most of the features that are coming as part of these updates, and we encourage you to read our roundups oniOS 26andmacOS 26if you want to know more. But this release means that we’re inching a lot closer to the final release of these operating systems, so if you don’t feel like checking out the beta versions of these updates, the good news is that the wait won’t be that long. Apple traditionally launches its new software around the time it launches its next iPhones, and we’re right on track to meet that goal if nothing catastrophic happens.
