A couple of things I like about macOS 27 Golden Gate that aren’t related to AI

Compare three window angles, from hard to soft. Underneath is macOS 15 Sequoia; At the top of the pile is the circular version of macOS 26 Tahoe. New corners in macOS 27 Golden Gate split the difference.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

Golden Gate also removes the small SF Symbols glyphs next to menu items. Like John Gruber’s Daring Fireball main pointsApple updated Human Interface Guidelines because its new OS is now said to be the design of the Tahoe period error how to do it, is that images of menu items should be used “sparingly and with purpose.”

I tend to think that many of the complaints about Tahoe and Liquid Glass are overblown, but Apple seems to have addressed many of the criticisms I’ve seen repeated by others or made myself. Together, I suspect they will be very convincing to the “I refuse to upgrade because of Liquid Glass” crowd.

External display support

Golden Gate makes several changes to improve Mac support for external displays. The fact is that it adds natural support for 5K ultrawide displays (Apple did not explain exactly the concept, but panels like this Dell Ultrasharp model running at 5120 and 2160). This may vary depending on the Mac you are using; M1, M2, and M3 series Macs that are above 60 Hz on 16:9 5K monitors may still have 60 Hz.

Appls also says that Macs will do a better job of remembering how windows have been placed on multiple displays, useful for laptop owners who regularly connect and open their systems to one or more external devices.

New battery icon that shows the battery level inside the icon to save space.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

I love bar icons, and for those that I interact with most of the time (especially Bluetooth and audio controls), I like to have them appear in the menu bar and save myself a trip to the Control Center.

There are two changes to the menu icons that I’ve seen and liked so far. First, there is an icon that shows when your Mac is connected to Ethernet. Previously, only your Wi-Fi connection was visible in the menu bar. This is a small thing, but people often wish that third-party solutions are available.