Earlier this week, Apple pushed out the sixth beta of macOS 27, and this time, this beta adds some nice features.
First, this beta adds two new Golden Gate-themed wallpaper options for you to choose from: Golden Gate Day and Golden Gate Evening, which join the existing Golden Gate Sunset and Golden Gate Night wallpapers that were added in earlier betas, along with the abstract-themed wallpapers similar to what Apple has offered with prior macOS versions. Just like with the other more recent wallpapers, these newly added wallpapers could animate into a screensaver or even animate when the user locks/unlocks their Mac.
Another interesting UI design change that many Mac users will fondly appreciate is that Apple also updated the appearance of the iconic traffic light buttons to have a more “Liquid Glass”-like look. A very subtle detail is that the traffic light button even stretches or bounces when the user drags/releases one of the buttons.
Many long-time Mac users were fond of the 3D “liquified” look of the Aqua UI in the earliest versions of Mac OS X, so this design change should bring back that “Aqua” feel that they came to know and love. I personally dig the updated aesthetic for those buttons. After all, it would harken back to when Steve Jobs said, “it’s liquid, one of the design goals was when you saw it you wanted to lick it,” and that could be said with this change in macOS 27.
When Liquid Glass was introduced in macOS 26 last year, that version was met with harsh criticism, especially with things like inconsistencies across applications’ window corners and so on. But thankfully, it appears that Apple is finally making things right with macOS 27, with several design refinements made across the system, such as edge-to-edge sidebars and consistent window shapes. macOS 27 will be officially released in the fall.
