Mac OS 26 Is Utter Garbage and Apple Has truly lost its way....

[jsnuff1]

It's clear that the next generation of useless engineers are completely taking over those that built the iPhone and OS X, and it's a sad day.

I have never thought I would say I would be installing garbage from Apple, but here it is. OS 26 Tahoa is truly garbage and an affront to what Jobs and Ives built.

You can see the carelessness and horrible work throughout. Non cohesive designs, BUGS EVERYWHERE, loss of caring of whats going on behind the hood, and chasing visual eye candy over function.

Its sad.

I cant even get my tabs to work correctly in safari and have to access the sidebar to access them correct (icons bugging out etc).

Apple really needs to sit down and fire half its team and spend a whole major version update just clearing the junk that has been built up and going back to building functional systems first, we have reached windows Vista level of garbage...

 

[McScooby]

It's clear that the next generation of useless engineers are completely taking over those that built the iPhone and OS X, and it's a sad day.

I have never thought I would say I would be installing garbage from Apple, but here it is. OS 26 Tahoa is truly garbage and an affront to what Jobs and Ives built.

You can see the carelessness and horrible work throughout. Non cohesive designs, BUGS EVERYWHERE, loss of caring of whats going on behind the hood, and chasing visual eye candy over function.

Its sad.

I cant even get my tabs to work correctly in safari and have to access the sidebar to access them correct (icons bugging out etc).

Apple really needs to sit down and fire half its team and spend a whole major version update just clearing the junk that has been built up and going back to building functional systems first, we have reached windows Vista level of garbage...

Unintended consequences of updating on a .0 or PB release, beta tester for the rest of us!👍

 

[arc of the universe]

i don't think its garbage.

but i don't understand how apple could work years on Liquid Glass and yet it still be unfinished and as rough as it currently is.
the other thing that i can't understand is why apple would make it a tent-pole feature.

i have zero bugs with Tahoe that are at a level that bothers me. a couple of weird things the way they appear is all thats wrong.
its a stable OS and stable release.

but what has apple worked hard on during these two years to improve macOS even further? i can't see that.

i like the direction that Liquid Glass is going. i like it a lot. but its not finished and it shows.

there has been a lot of effort to bring iPad into a mac-like experience. that seems to be where the effort is being placed.

 

[Petite messe solennelle]

Liquid Glass is an abomination.

I update my MacBook Pro every year, and this is the first time since the keyboard disaster 2016 to 2019 that I'm going to wait again. I'd love to buy an M5, but downgrading from the installed Tahoe to Sequoia will most probably not be possible.

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

I’m holding out on upgrading for a long time this cycle. With Ventura, Sonoma, and Sequoia I dove in on a dot zero or 0.1 update, typically with almost no issues.

But I’m most worried about the feel and functionality of Tahoe more than a few bugs. From what I’m hearing—it sounds quite disheartening. It just seems terrible to use.

I guess I’ll have to see for myself eventually 🤷‍♂️ but I’m definitely not ready now.

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

Liquid Glass is an abomination.

I update my MacBook Pro every year, and this is the first time since the keyboard disaster 2016 to 2019 that I'm going to wait again. I'd love to buy an M5, but downgrading from the installed Tahoe to Sequoia will most probably not be possible.

Just get an M4. It’s already got TB5—a big connectivity upgrade over previous gens—so future-proofing is already solid. Maybe M5 gets WiFi 7? –big woop.

Overall though the spec bump from M4 to M5 isn’t going to be dramatic.

M6–when 2nm likely debuts—is where bigger gains will be had.

 

[Ifti]

Well sorry for going against the grain here, but I actually don't mind it at all.

I generally do not upgrade my main computer for at least 6 months or so, mainly down to waiting for my RAID drivers etc to be updated, but they've been quite quick to update this time so I decided to go ahead this year. So running Tahoe on my computer - no issues in my daily usage at all. It's been perfectly fine for me, which is a first!

Likewise, iOS26 on both my iPhone and iPad have also been fine.

 

[shogunswb]

I dont actually notice LG in Tahoe that much but were I do it's horrible & has no place on a desktop OS.

Tahoe doesn't seem to have as many seriouse bugs as previous versions but it does have many many annoying bugs especially in Safari & I also find that I have to reboot my M1 MBP quite often to keep the OS running fast, but hardly ever rebooted previously.

I agree with jsnuff1 in that Apple have lost their way in terms of the products that they make, both hardware and software & now it's all about profit & screwing over it's loyal user base.

My business run's on Macs but I won't be buying another Apple product, & that includes phones until the greed is replaced with much better products that dont require extortionate amounts of money to actually make them usable.

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

I think the hardware (minus a couple gaffes like the titanium iPhone) is pretty rock solid. This iteration of MacBooks in particular are as good as they’ve ever been imho.

The software is where Apple is lacking. They’re headed for Microsoft levels of slop soon, if they aren’t there already.

 

[shogunswb]

I think the hardware (minus a couple gaffes like the titanium iPhone) is pretty rock solid. This iteration of MacBooks in particular are as good as they’ve ever been imho.

The software is where Apple is lacking. They’re headed for Microsoft levels of slop soon, if they aren’t there already.

The MacBooks atm are a good spec until you look at the cost & then they, like all other Mac products are ridiculously priced.

MacBook Pro as the name suggest's a machine intended to be used in business, still used by a lot of graphic designers & video production but yet the base model in the UK with 16GB ram & 512MB storage is £1599 & utterly useless as far as graphics & video are concerned. If I want an additional 16GB ram it's £400, £200 for additional 512MB storage & only then does it start to become usable. Top of the range, maxed out it's over £7K & yet I remember MBP maxed out at around £2-2.5K.

Been using Macs since 1994, was a Mac technician looking after some 500 Macs on my own for 12 years, my wife started on a Lisa, so yes we are old school literally but that means we have been through the Good, the Bad & the very Ugly of Mac evolution.

 

[Petite messe solennelle]

MacBook Pro as the name suggest's a machine intended to be used in business,

I always thought that "Pro" meant 'advanced', not 'professional'.

 

[shogunswb]

I always thought that "Pro" meant 'advanced', not 'professional'.

I don't think there is any actual definition of Pro that I know of but the way it used to work was that MacBooks were home user laptops & MacBook Pro's were aimed at professional's with faster processors, larger ram capability, more storage, better graphics, better looking.

 

[tomekwsrod]

One needs to step outside of Apple bubble to see that Apple is more and more lagging behind the competition. When the competition races in

• AI,
• business solutions (Microsoft),
• GPU (NVIDIA, AMD),
• laptops (price to quality ratio i.e. strong gaming laptops, MS Surface laptops for business using ARM),
• even phones i.e. xaomi 17 pro
  ,

Apple is dabbling in Liquid Glass theme, emojis, and delivering bug ridden software.

Hope Apple is going to surprise us in the few coming years.

 

[TechRunner]

I typically wait at least six months before upgrading to the latest OS to give Apple time to sort out the bugs (assuming they do) and tighten things up a bit. I have even skipped a release on occasion. I don't have the will to be a beta tester for Apple.

 

[k27]

Pro = Premium.

 

[headlessmike]

Am I the only one that actually likes macOS 26? On my M1 Macs it runs well and I'm encountering fewer issues than in previous upgrade cycles.

macOS, tends to go int cycles with how things are implemented. First, you have a new design where things have been designed to work together. Then, you have years of new features being added that are shoehorned in until the next redesign when things start over again. I feel like macOS 26 is one of those starting points with a new design language and some new concepts. It feels fresh and works well for me. I was also very happy with the last UI shift when going to macOS 11, so perhaps I just like new things, but my Mac is first and foremost a tool to get things done and I honestly haven't had any showstoppers with macOS 26 like I did with Sequoia and Sonoma in their early versions.

 

[GuilleA]

I'm OK with waiting till macOS 27, or at least until 26.5 as it seems none of the Beta issues were resolved and everything carried over to final release. I did skip Sonoma altogether after all.

 

[shogunswb]

Am I the only one that actually likes macOS 26? On my M1 Macs it runs well and I'm encountering fewer issues than in previous upgrade cycles.

macOS, tends to go int cycles with how things are implemented. First, you have a new design where things have been designed to work together. Then, you have years of new features being added that are shoehorned in until the next redesign when things start over again. I feel like macOS 26 is one of those starting points with a new design language and some new concepts. It feels fresh and works well for me. I was also very happy with the last UI shift when going to macOS 11, so perhaps I just like new things, but my Mac is first and foremost a tool to get things done and I honestly haven't had any showstoppers with macOS 26 like I did with Sequoia and Sonoma in their early versions.

I agree in that Tahoe is better on my M1 MBP than previous versions & is the only reason I upgraded straight away because I was sooo fed up with all the problems before which nearly had me launching it through the window on several occasions. Like you it's a tool & the more time you can actually use it for work instead of trying to fix it the better.

BUT as I said before LG has no place on a desktop & to be perfectly honest I do everything I can to minimise it on my iPhons & iPads. The other thing is the icons & text in an active finder window or Apple app. Personally I find it very difficult to look at to the point it literally makes my eyes ache.

Tahoe is running faster than Sequoia but again I quite often find that in the beginning, its just a question of how long it takes to fill up with all the associated crap that eventually bogs it down again.

Recents OS's across the board just seem to concentrate on content creators, Influencers (AKA CON ARTISTS) & bloody emoji's🤬

 

[maflynn]

One needs to step outside of Apple bubble to see that Apple is more and more lagging behind the competition. When the competition races in

• AI,
• business solutions (Microsoft),
• GPU (NVIDIA, AMD),
• laptops (price to quality ratio i.e. strong gaming laptops, MS Surface laptops for business using ARM),
• even phones i.e. xaomi 17 pro

My thoughts on your bullet items

• AI - definitely, and I feel hubris/arrogance played into their failure. How long has siri been horrible? Only now that AI has grabbed hold they're looking to try to make things better, but sadly losing talent to competitors who have already leap frogged apple in AI
• Business solutions - this was never a priority or the focus of apple. Creative apps, yes, but not enterprise applications
• GPU, only since going to apple silicon has apple been producing GPUs and the level of performance is incredibly impressive. I think they mistook the power of GPU, only considering them for gaming, and some creative applications. The unified memory has been a great boom and impediment to competing with nvidia. The M5 and beyond hopefully address the GPU short comings.
• Laptops, this is where apple has a huge lead, I'm unsure why you're using MS Surface of PCs surpassing apple. In fact, given the compatibility issues, MS quietly introduced a x86 surface because their arm based laptops cannot run many apps. Apple also doesn't make gaming laptops, I would be hesitant to use them as acheivements, as someone who has owned a gaming laptop they have some advantages, and many disadvantages, like huge power bricks to power that high wattage GPU, or that they run hot, or have battery life measure in minutes instead of hours.
• Phones - I think overall, except for foldable phones, the playing field is level, but I will admit my ignorance in this area as I only care about iPhones, and don'e read or have any knowledge of specific android models

 

[chrono1081]

It's clear that the next generation of useless engineers are completely taking over those that built the iPhone and OS X, and it's a sad day.

I've said it before I'll say it again, this is because people doing the interviews value useless leetcode skills over actual experience. I'm convinced it's why software is so bad these days.

Anecdotal but two guys I worked with were AWFUL developers, they couldn't even get the basics right, they couldn't do anything on their own and pulled in libraries for everything because, in their words "why reinvent the wheel?" (They don't realize often times "reinventing the wheel" is far better than pulling in some unnecessary third party dependency).

They both left and got jobs at Amazon. Not because of their coding skills, because they could pass leetcode interviews. They both ended up leaving (or getting fired who knows) within 6 and 9 months respectively but still.

This is how nearly all the modern tech companies work, experience be damned the only thing that matters is if you can pass those leetcode tests because some idiot at Google said that "anyone can be taught to code" and that "leetcode is how you get the best developers" and the entire industry went that way.

Turns out he was flat wrong. The people with tons of experience don't have time to study for leetcode nonsense, we're too busy writing scalable enterprise apps.

 

[bogdanw]

"How to rollback / revert from Tahoe to Sequoia?"
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-to-rollback-revert-from-tahoe-to-sequoia.2465954/
"Defer Tahoe for 90 days"
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/defer-tahoe-for-90-days.2465304/

 

[Basic75]

BUGS EVERYWHERE

But Tahoe is not a new operating system, it doesn't even deserve a new major number. The bugs I've encountered so far have all been old stuff. Time for a Snow Leopard style bugfix and paying off technical debt release.

 

[ForkHandles]

"I hate things, let me tell you why!"

 

[ForkHandles]

The MacBooks atm are a good spec until you look at the cost & then they, like all other Mac products are ridiculously priced.

MacBook Pro as the name suggest's a machine intended to be used in business, still used by a lot of graphic designers & video production but yet the base model in the UK with 16GB ram & 512MB storage is £1599 & utterly useless as far as graphics & video are concerned. If I want an additional 16GB ram it's £400, £200 for additional 512MB storage & only then does it start to become usable. Top of the range, maxed out it's over £7K & yet I remember MBP maxed out at around £2-2.5K.

Been using Macs since 1994, was a Mac technician looking after some 500 Macs on my own for 12 years, my wife started on a Lisa, so yes we are old school literally but that means we have been through the Good, the Bad & the very Ugly of Mac evolution.

Get an AI engine to offer up specs of similar PC laptops. I did and the ASUS Zenbook with specs similar to 16" MacBook M4Pro comes out more expensive in the UK and boasts a 10 hour battery life, WITH LIGHT USE!!!!

Macs aren't cheap, but they are very good quality products and compete easily with similar specced machines.

 

[ayephoner]

I thought mods ran a tight ship around here in regard to similar threads. There have been 100 threads with people just crying about 26. Yes. We get it. Clear bubbles are the devil. Can't you just add your thoughts to one of the other threads about this topic?