macOS 26.5
Juli Clover (release notes, security, enterprise, developer, full installer, IPSW):
macOS Tahoe 26.5 adds a Suggested Places section to the search interface in the Apple Maps app. It also lays the groundwork for ads in the Maps app, which are coming this summer.
The App Store is also getting a monthly subscription option that will let users pay a lower price on a monthly basis, but agree to pay for a subscription for a 12-month period.
I’ve heard that macOS 26.5 introduces problems with disabling System Integrity Protection; I’m not sure whether this was fixed before the final release.
See also Mr. Macintosh and Howard Oakley.
Previously:
Update (2026-05-12): Rich Trouton:
One of the features included with macOS Tahoe 26.5.0 is a new option in the Energy preferences in System Settings for automatically starting a Mac when power is connected to it, either following a power failure or when the Mac is plugged in to power.
With macOS 26.5, unmounted external thunderbolt drives are no longer automatically remounted whenever the screen is unlocked, bringing my 8 months of mild suffering to an end.
Update (2026-05-13): John Brayton:
I am seeing a bug in macOS 26.5 that affects keyboard shortcuts that have no modifiers and are attached to menu items.
Update (2026-05-18): PotentPeas:
The poll will remain open for 30 days.
[…]
As someone who values stability and “things working right” more than access to the latest new features, I’m holding off on upgrading to Tahoe until I believe that it will be a reasonably smooth experience.
With the initial Tahoe release, reading comments and posts from the community, I saw a lot of repeatedly noted issues.
[…]
I am interested in your take, after using macOS Tahoe 26.5 for a bit. Did they make any improvements that meaningfully fix or improve any issues you were experiencing with prior 26.X releases? Should a “regular” user upgrade yet? Is it “safe”? Or is it still not worth it, because of the bugs and UI jank?
macOS 26.5 fixes a weird bug that could sometimes happen in the Passwords app where ⌘F wouldn’t focus the search field.
Update (2026-05-25): Nik:
I just bought an M5 MacBook Air. I like the hardware but really dislike MacOS Tahoe. The user interface is unfinished, distracting and it wastes space. I think other people covered these issues in detail.
The thing is: I thought that I would be able to downgrade to Sequoia somehow, unfortunately I have not found a way to do so for an M5 machine.
Hence, I am on the verge of sending the machine back for a refund.
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One of the features included with macOS Tahoe 26.5.0 is a new option in the Energy preferences in System Settings for automatically starting a Mac when power is connected to it, either following a power failure or when the Mac is plugged in to power.
Oh, thank fuck for that. I was getting tired of remembering to do a "sudo nvram BootPreference=%00" to get this. Of course it should just have been a GUI option from the outset.
Still doesn't help with wakeup on key press, though. Why provide a power button if you're just going to wake the machine up when you sneeze at it?
