Apple Announces macOS Tahoe with Major Spotlight Search Upgrades

Apple has introduced some big changes coming to all their OS across the board at their Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2025) today. The company announced the next iteration of macOS, called macOS Tahoe, which features an improved and intelligent Spotlight search.

A New Visual Change to Your Mac Experience

The biggest new change in macOS 26 is the “Liquid Glass” design, which is also coming to all of Apple’s operating systems. This will bring clear aesthetics across the board, with translucent and frosted glass-like motifs that will be visible across buttons, menus, and toggles.

It will be more apparent in the dock, menu bar, and control center, which have gone transparent. You can rearrange items in the Control Center and match the look of the icons and themes to your wallpaper. There’s also an option to change folder colors and assign them an emoji to make it easier to identify what’s what when you need it.

Moreover, Apple is bringing the Phone app on Mac with the same new layout and feature set as demonstrated in iOS 26. This means you will be able to answer calls right from your Mac and enjoy features like call screening and hold assist.

The macOS Tahoe update also introduces Live Activities from iPhone. So you can check the status of your Uber Eats order right from the menu bar on your Mac.

Spotlight Search Gains New Superpowers

With macOS Tahoe, Spotlight search can now show files, folders, messages, events, and other items more intelligently, and ranked according to user relevance. It will even let you browse files stored in third-party cloud storage apps like Google Drive.

There’s also a new browse view, which lets you scan apps, files, clipboard history, and more when you don’t know exactly what you are looking for.

But Spotlight isn’t only about search anymore. It has become far more powerful on macOS 26. You can directly initiate actions such as setting reminders, sending emails, creating notes, or playing a podcast right from there. Moreover, you can bring up Spotlight within an app and perform actions on the app itself using it, like changing the color tone in a photo editing app.

Want more? You can assign shortcut keys to particular actions to perform them on Spotlight. It also learns from your regular routines and suggests personalized results.

Apple Games is Here, along with other Gaming Additions

Before the keynote, we anticipated Apple could announce a dedicated Games app, and it is here on macOS Tahoe. The new Apple Games will be your library to browse owned games, find new titles, and play with friends.

While in a game, you can access the new Game Overlay. It allows you to change system settings, enable Low Power Mode, chat, or invite friends without exiting the game itself.

Apple is also introducing Metal 4 with macOS Tahoe, which will allow developers to deliver new graphics technologies with their games. It will help bring upscaling, high-quality visuals, and ray tracing in upcoming games like Crimson Desert and InZOI. More games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Cronos: The New Dawn, HITMAN World of Assassination, and more are on the way.

Apple Intelligence Upgrades on macOS Tahoe

The Cupertino giant also announced some new Apple Intelligence features, like Live Translation in the Messages and FaceTime apps. You will also be able to create custom shortcuts that use Apple Intelligence features like Writing Tools and Image Playground.

It also brings improvements to Genmoji as you can mix two emojis and add a prompt to create a custom emoji that fits the context of the conversation. Apple Intelligence can also categorize your reminders in a more manageable fashion.

Other New Features and Availability

Furthermore, you will see the new Liquid Glass design language seep into other system apps, like Safari, Photos, Messages, and FaceTime. The Journals app is also part of the macOS 26 experience, and there are new accessibility improvements, like the Magnifier to zoom into surroundings using Continuity Camera.

All these features coming with macOS 26 Tahoe will be available as a free upgrade for Mac models running the M1 chip or later. The jump to 26 comes as part of Apple’s coherent naming scheme across their different operating system, which will correlate with the upcoming year. What did you think about these new changes? Are they exciting enough? Let us know in the comments below.