You Can Now Download & Upgrade to MacOS Tahoe 26
MacOS Tahoe 26 has been officially launched by Apple to all Mac users with compatible hardware. The new operating system for Mac includes some notable visual changes and a variety of new features, which is sure to generate considerable interest. MacOS Tahoe 26 is labeled that way but
The most significant new obvious change to MacOS Tahoe 26 is the introduction of the Liquid Glass interface look which is more animated, translucent, and shiny, with some new icon customization options and other visual changes. You will also find a refreshed lock screen with new wallpapers and new screen savers, some newly redesigned system icons, and various other changes on the appearance side of things. In terms of features, MacOS Tahoe 26 features major Spotlight changes like the inclusion of Launchpad and a new clipboard history feature, Live Activities from iPhone show on Mac, Messages app gets custom background options and group polling, Phone app with Voicemail comes to MacOS, Journal app, and many other little features, updates, and changes to the Mac operating system.
Separately, iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 have also been made available, along with watchOS 26, tvOS 26, homeOS updates, visionOS 26, and more.
Which Macs are compatible with macOS Tahoe 26?
MacOS Tahoe 26 is supported by a wide variety of Macs, but the compatibility list is shorter than prior MacOS releases. If you have any Apple Silicon Mac it will support Tahoe, but the Intel Mac list has shrunk, and it’s likely that MacOS Tahoe 26 will be the last major release of Mac system software to support Intel chip architecture.
- MacBook Air with Apple silicon (2020 and later)
- MacBook Pro with Apple silicon (2020 and later)
- MacBook Pro (Intel, 16‑inch, 2019)
- MacBook Pro (Intel, 13‑inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- iMac (All models from 2020 and later)
- Mac mini (All models from 2020 and later)
- Mac Studio (All models from 2022 and later)
- Mac Pro (All models from 2019 and later)
How to Download & Install MacOS Tahoe 26
Be sure to backup Mac with Time Machine before beginning. This secures your data and allows you to potentially downgrade should you choose.
- Go to  Apple menu and choose “System Settings”
- Select “General”, and then select “Software Update”
- Choose to “Upgrade Now” or “Update Now” for MacOS Tahoe 26 to download and install
The Mac must restart to finish installation.
You will also see updates to prior MacOS system software versions, like Sequoia 15.7, and Sonoma 14.8, that you can update to instead.
Direct Download Links for macOS Tahoe 26 Installer & IPSW
The complete full installer PKG and firmware IPSW files for macOS Tahoe are available from Apple CDN servers:
The full installer can be used to make a Tahoe boot install drive while the IPSW file can be used to restore a Mac or setup a virtual machine.
If you’re curious about MacOS Tahoe but don’t want to overcommit to the full upgrade quite yet, you can run MacOS Tahoe 26 in a virtual machine like UTM easily by using the IPSW file.
Don’t forget you can always find all available versions of MacOS system software as IPSW and installers or you can always refer to the MacOS Tahoe 26 list of installers and IPSW.
MacOS Tahoe 26 Release Notes
Release notes accompanying MacOS Tahoe 26 are as follows:
New design featuring Liquid Glass
The new design makes the iconic elements of macOS fresh yet familiar. A transparent menubar makes your display feel larger. Apps with Liquid Glass sidebars and toolbars reflect and refract what you’re viewing, drawing more focus to your content. And you can personalize icons and widgets, giving them a light, dark, tinted, or new clear look to match your style.Customize the look of folders
To make folders easy to recognize, you can give them a distinctive appearance. You can now choose a unique color and add emoji or symbolPersonalize Control Center
Enjoy more ways to customize which controls appear in Control Center, and how they’re laid out. Add new controls from Mac and even iPhone apps, including from your favorite third-party apps. Arrange them however you like, and even create pages of controls. You can also place controls right into the menu bar for easier access.Communicate seamlessly across languages with Live Translation
With Apple Intelligence, Live Translation helps you automatically translate text in Messages, follow along with live-translated captions in FaceTime calls, or listen to a real-time audio transcription spoken aloud in the Phone app. It works entirely on-device so your personal conversations stay private.Create incredibly powerful shortcuts
The Shortcuts app is supercharged with Apple Intelligence. Intelligent actions can summarize text, create images, or tap directly into Apple Intelligence models. And with automations on Mac, you can make shortcuts run automatically based on conditions, such as the time of day, file or folder updates, connecting to an external monitor, and more.New options for making Genmoji
Mix your favorite emoji together with descriptions to make something brand new. And get more control over Genmoji inspired by family and friends, with new options like hairstyle customization to help you match their latest look.More ways to create the perfect image in Image Playground
Get more control over images inspired by people from your photo library, with new options to change their expressions or hairstyle to match their latest look. You can also access new ChatGPT styles, like Watercolor or Oil Painting, and use Any Style to describe what you want.See Live Activities from iPhone on Mac
Continuity gets even better with Live Activities. Easily stay on top of activities that you started on iPhone, like tracking the progress of your order from Uber Eats, right from the menu bar on Mac. You can even click on the Live Activity to open the app in iPhone Mirroring.All-new Phone app
Powered by Continuity, the new Phone app for Mac lets you relay cellular calls from your nearby iPhone. Call Screening can help you manage unwanted calls by finding out who’s calling and why, without interrupting you. You can also access familiar features–including Recents, Contacts, and Voicemails–and new ones like Hold Assist and Live Translation.Focus your Messages conversations
To help you focus on what matters, new screening tools filter out unknown numbers from your conversation list until you mark them as known, and on-device spam detection helps filter out spam. You can also add a background to your conversation to give it a distinctive look. And send polls to friends and family over iMessage and watch the votes come in live.Discover new ways to browse in Spotlight
Spotlight makes it easy to see all your apps, locate recent or suggested files, discover actions you can take, and view your clipboard history. Just launch Spotlight from the menu bar and select the Applications, Files, Actions, or Clipboard button, which will appear next to the search field.Take actions directly from Spotlight
You can now take hundreds of new system and app actions right from Spotlight, such as sending messages, creating an event, and running shortcuts, all without lifting your hands off the keyboard. And to get things done faster, Spotlight automatically assigns quick keys to actions you take, so you can execute them in just a few characters.Experience the new Apple Games app
The Apple Games app is your one-stop gaming destination. Discover the latest updates across your games, such as in-game events, major updates, and games your friends are playing. Access your entire game library. And compete with friends in challenges.
Aside from MacOS Tahoe 26, you will also find iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, HomeOS, visionOS 26, and other updates to basically every other Apple device.
