Exploring the Exciting Liquid Glass Tweaks in macOS 27 Public Beta

The macOS 27 Golden Gate public beta has been released, giving M-series Mac users easier access to test Apple’s latest changes, including a more subtle Liquid Glass aesthetic. While this may excite those who are not fans of the transparency in Tahoe, there are other compelling reasons to try out this beta.

Rumors earlier this year suggested that macOS 27 would focus on performance optimizations, bug fixes, and small quality-of-life improvements rather than a major overhaul. Golden Gate seems to follow this trend, with Apple highlighting practical tweaks like an optimized CPU scheduler and support for Mac mirroring in 5K resolution during its WWDC keynote.

The stability of the Golden Gate developer beta on M5 MacBook Air and M5 Max MacBook Pro has been noteworthy, as dev betas often come with side effects like reduced battery life or increased heat generation. If you’re interested in trying the public beta yourself, and are comfortable with the potential for bugs, here are some new features to look out for.

The new dialed-down Liquid Glass design, unified corner window radii, and visual enhancements to File Explorer and app sidebars are considered wins for Golden Gate. While some may still prefer the flatter design of macOS Sequoia, the improved Liquid Glass is more tolerable and less distracting. When the full Golden Gate release arrives in the fall, upgrading from Tahoe will be recommended.

Siri’s new Expressive Voices feature, available in preview as of dev beta 3, allows users to customize the pacing and expressiveness of Siri’s speech. With options for a female and male American accent with five levels of pace and expressivity each, this feature adds a new dimension to interacting with Siri.

Another noteworthy addition is the overflow button in the Menu Bar, which addresses the issue of hidden menu bar items when there are too many. Golden Gate now hides items to the left of the notch and provides a double-arrow button to expand them temporarily.

The Photos app in Golden Gate introduces features like Clean Up, which resembles Google’s Magic Eraser and does a commendable job of removing unwanted elements from photos. Reframe and Extend features allow users to adjust the composition and framing of their pictures, although results may vary based on the complexity of the image.

While some users may not find the new Photos app features compelling, overall, Golden Gate offers several improvements over Tahoe. Despite personal preferences for certain features, the enhancements in Golden Gate make it a worthwhile upgrade for users already accustomed to the glassy interface on their Mac.

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