Apple released macOS Golden Gate to the public today, which means anyone with a compatible Mac can download it. The new version of macOS requires an Apple chip, so if you have a Mac with an M1 or later or a MacBook Neo, you can upgrade.

macOS Golden Gate includes Siri AI, and the Mac is the only device that people in the EU can try Siri AI with. It also brings a long list of performance improvements, updates to Liquid Glass, and new Apple Intelligence features for apps like Photos, Calendar, Reminders, Home, and Safari.

Liquid Glass

Apple added a Liquid Glass slider in macOS 27, which means you can adjust the transparency level. You can select a clearer version of Liquid Glass that lets some of the background show through, or a more opaque version for improved legibility. Since it's a slider, you can also pick something in between.

Apple tweaked the overall opacity of Liquid Glass, and it better diffuses complex content behind navigation bars and buttons. Darkened edges and brighter specular highlights add more depth and separation for different UI elements.

Toolbars, Sidebars, and Windows

Uniform toolbars in apps make text headings and groups of controls more legible, and Apple has cut back on the number of icons that are used in menu interfaces. Windows have the same corner radius for more consistency, and you'll notice that app corners are not as dramatically rounded.

Changes to window shadows and the Liquid Glass updates make it a lot easier to tell which window is active when you have several apps open.

Sidebars no longer float and are edge-to-edge, which is a less distracting design. Sidebar icons once again use color, too.

Siri AI

Siri AI is the biggest change in macOS Golden Gate. Siri is smarter, more capable, and functions like a chatbot. On the Mac, you can ask Siri anything using the Spotlight interface that comes up with Command + Space. Spotlight is now a unified "Search or Ask" bar where you can search for files, apps, and other content, or ask Siri to complete tasks or answer queries.

You can also interact with Siri using the dedicated Siri app, which is where you can view past conversations and start new conversations. Siri conversations sync across all of your devices, and the Siri app is cross-platform.

Siri can see what's on your screen and access your personal information like emails, messages, and photos to answer questions. Siri can also search the web and complete tasks in apps for you. It's a huge change from the prior version of Siri, and Siri can handle far more than it could before.

We have more on some of the tasks you can complete with Siri in our Siri AI guide.

Visual Intelligence

Apple brought the iPhone's Visual Intelligence feature to the Mac in macOS 27. You can ask Siri questions about what's on your screen with Visual Intelligence, choosing the entire screen or just a portion.

Visual Intelligence on the Mac works when you press Command + Shift + Space or Command + Shift + 6 to capture one area of the display. If you press Command + Shift + 5 (also used for recording your display and capturing screenshots), you can click on the Visual Intelligence icon to get an adjustable selection square for selecting an area of the screen.

Siri can search for images, summarize, translate, identify objects, add information from the screen to apps like Calendar or Reminders, answer questions about what you're looking at, and more. Visual Intelligence on Mac has all of the same features as Visual Intelligence on iPhone, and it includes the new Visual Intel...