macOS 27 Golden Gate: 13 best new features coming to Your Mac

macOS 27 Golden Gate: The Best New Features Coming to Your Mac

Apple's next big Mac update is macOS 27 Golden Gate, and there are a lot of new features to discover.

The biggest addition is the completely new Siri AI, but that's far from everything. Apple is also improving Liquid Glass, bringing Apple Intelligence into more apps, making Safari smarter, upgrading Photos and Passwords, and adding lots of smaller improvements throughout macOS.

I've picked some of the best macOS 27 features you'll actually want to try.

And for every feature, I'll show you how to use it step by step.

Let's get into it.

1. Meet the completely new Siri AI

This is easily one of the biggest upgrades in macOS 27.

Siri has been transformed into a much more capable AI assistant powered by Apple Intelligence.

You can talk to Siri more naturally, ask more complicated questions, brainstorm ideas, get help with something you're working on, and continue a conversation with follow-up questions.

Siri can also use your personal context to help find information across your Mac, such as an email, photo or note.

How to get the new Siri

When Siri AI becomes available for your Mac:

1. Click the Apple menu.

2. Open System Settings.

3. Scroll down and look for Siri.

4. Click Try New Siri and Join Waitlist.

5. You'll see Waitlist Joined when your request has been registered.

6. Apple will notify you when the new Siri is ready to use.

Once you have access, you can start asking Siri questions just like you would with an AI chatbot.

Tip: Try asking follow-up questions. You don't have to explain everything again each time.

macOS GUIDE

2. Siri now has its own Mac app

One of my favorite Siri changes is that it now has a dedicated app on your Mac.

Instead of Siri only appearing as a small interface, you can open the full Siri app and have a proper conversation.

The larger interface gives Siri more room to show detailed answers, and your conversations are saved so you can return to them later.

How to use the new Siri app

1. Open the Apps menu from your Dock.

2. Find and open Siri.

3. Click the text field and type your question.

4. Or click the microphone and speak to Siri.

5. Ask another question to continue the conversation.

6. Select an earlier conversation from the sidebar whenever you want to return to it.

Tip: Planning to use Siri regularly? Pin the Siri app to your Dock so it's always one click away. Read more about how to open Siri on your Mac here

3. Customize Liquid Glass

Liquid Glass gets another great refinement in macOS 27. Apple has improved transparency, contrast and readability throughout the system. You'll also notice more consistent toolbars, edge-to-edge sidebars, updated window shapes and refreshed menu bar icons.

But there's one new setting I especially like: you can control how Liquid Glass looks with the new systemwide Liquid Glass slider.

How to customize Liquid Glass

1. Click the Apple menu.

2. Open System Settings.

3. Select Appearance.

4. Find the Liquid Glass control.

5. Move the slider to adjust the appearance.

You can make Liquid Glass look very clear and transparent or move toward a more tinted appearance.

If you find the standard Liquid Glass look a little too transparent, this is definitely a setting worth changing.

4. Automatically organize your Safari tabs

macOS 27 can make a messy Safari window much easier to manage by automatically grouping related tabs into topics.

If you're researching a vacation, for example, Safari can recognize that several open pages are related to the same trip and organize them together.

How to automatically organize Safari tabs

1. Open Safari on your Mac.

2. From the menu bar, go to Safari → Settings → Tabs.

3. Find Organize Tabs.

4. Select Automatically Create Topics.

5. Open several webpages in Safari like you normally would.

6. Safari will now automatically recognize related webpages and organize them into topics for you.

Tip: This is especially useful when you have lots of tabs open while researching, shopping, planning a trip, or working on a project.

5. Let Safari watch a webpage for you

This is a Safari feature I can see myself using a lot.

The new Notify Me feature can monitor a webpage and tell you when something changes.

For example, Safari could notify you when:

• A product comes back in stock

• A price changes

• Information on a page is updated

Instead of checking the same website every day, Safari can do it for you.

How to use Notify Me in Safari

1. Open Safari and visit the webpage you want to monitor.

2. Click the three-line button next to the website address.

3. Select Notify Me.

4. You’ll see “Safari is currently looking for:”. Describe exactly what you want Safari to watch for. For example: “Notify me when this product drops to $20.”

5. You can also adjust the frequency and time to control how often Safari checks the webpage.

6. Click Done.

7. You can now close the webpage and continue using your Mac.

That’s it! Safari will keep an eye on the page in the background. If the product in this example drops to $20, you’ll receive a notification on your Mac.

Tip: This is especially useful for price drops, products coming back in stock, ticket availability, or other webpages you don't want to keep checking yourself.

6. Let Passwords help fix weak passwords

The Passwords app becomes much smarter in macOS 27.

It already warns you when one of your passwords has been compromised or isn't secure enough.

But now it can go a step further and help update eligible passwords automatically for you.

That means less time opening websites, finding account settings and manually creating new passwords.

How to automatically fix weak or compromised passwords

1. Open the Passwords app on your Mac.

2. Unlock it using Touch ID or your Mac password.

3. Select Security.

4. Here, you’ll see any passwords that have been identified as weak or compromised.

5. Select one of the affected accounts. If the website supports the feature, you’ll see an option to automatically fix the password.

6. Select Automatically Fix and follow the onscreen instructions.

7. The Passwords app will help update the password and save the new password automatically, so you don’t have to remember it yourself.

That’s it! Your Mac can handle much more of the password-changing process for you, making it easier to keep your accounts secure.

Tip: Check the Security section every now and then, even if you haven’t received a warning. It’s a quick way to spot passwords that might need your attention.

7. Edit photos with smarter AI tools

Photos gets some really interesting Apple Intelligence upgrades in macOS 27.

You can now do much more than basic cropping and adjustments.

New tools include:

• Reframe — intelligently change the composition of your photo.

• Extend — expand beyond the original edges of an image.

• Clean Up — remove unwanted objects, with improvements for removing larger distractions.

How to use the new editing tools

1. Open the Photos app.

2. Choose a photo.

3. Click Edit.

4. Look for the new Apple Intelligence editing tools.

5. Choose Reframe, Extend or Clean Up.

6. Make your adjustment.

7. Preview the result.

8. Click Done when you're happy with it.

Tip: Try Extend on a photo that's framed just a little too tightly. Your Mac can create additional space around the original image. It is really cool to use this.

8. Create Calendar events using normal language

Creating an event in Calendar becomes much easier.

Instead of filling in every field yourself, macOS 27 lets you describe what you want to add.

For example:

“Coffee with Sarah tomorrow at 10 AM.”

Calendar can understand the information and create the event for you.

You can even edit an existing event using normal language.

How to create an event with a description

1. Open Calendar.

2. Choose the option to create a new event.

3. Describe what you want to add in normal language.

4. For example, type: “Coffee date with Lis tomorrow at 10 am.”

5. Let Calendar identify the date, time and event details.

6. Check that everything is correct.

7. Save the event.

You can also describe a change to an existing event and let Calendar update the details.

Simple, but very useful.

9. Get better support for ultrawide displays

If you use your Mac with an ultrawide monitor, macOS 27 brings some nice improvements.

Supported displays can now use higher resolutions and refresh rates, including configurations such as 5K at 120Hz.

macOS can also remember how you've arranged your displays.

That means when you reconnect your monitor, your windows and display arrangement can return to the way you left them.

How to configure your external display

1. Connect your ultrawide display to your Mac.

2. Click the Apple menu.

3. Open System Settings.

4. Select Displays.

5. Choose your external display. It is visible next to the Built-in Display.

6. Select the resolution and refresh rate you want to use.

7. Arrange your displays by dragging them into the correct position.

macOS will remember your arrangement for the next time you connect.

10. Generate captions for videos

macOS 27 also introduces some powerful new accessibility features.

One of the most useful is a new captioning feature that can automatically generate synchronized captions for videos you're watching.

It can even translate existing captions into other languages.

How to customize Live Captions on your Mac

1. Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner.

2. Open System Settings.

3. Select Accessibility.

4. Scroll to the Hearing section and select Live Captions.

5. Turn on Live Captions.

6. From here, you can customize how your captions look, including the font, font size, text color, and background color.

7. Play a supported video or other audio content to try Live Captions.

Your Mac can now display spoken audio as text on your screen, with captions customized to make them easier for you to read.

Note: Live Captions availability may vary depending on your Mac model, language, and region.

11. Share better iCloud Shared Albums

Shared Albums are getting a nice upgrade too.

Apple is making it easier for friends and family who use Android or Windows to join an album and contribute their own photos through iCloud.com.

Shared Albums also gain support for full-resolution sharing, plus new ways to filter photos, react to them and invite other people.

How to create and share a Shared Album

1. Open the Photos app on your Mac and select the photos you want to share.

2. From the menu bar, click File → New Shared Album with Selection.

3. Click Continue.

4. Give your Shared Album a name.

5. Choose who can access the album. To share it with people who don't use Apple devices, select Anyone with the Link.

6. Share the generated link with your friends or family.

7. You can always add more photos to the album later.

Anyone with the link can then open the Shared Album, making it much easier to share your photos with friends and family who use Android, Windows, or other non-Apple devices

12. Get smart Suggestions in Messages and Mail

Apple Intelligence is also becoming more proactive. Now Messages and Mail can recognize the context of a conversation and suggest something useful you might want to do.

For example, if someone sends you information about an event, macOS could suggest adding it to Calendar.

Or if someone asks you to send a particular photo, macOS can help you find it.

How to use Suggestions

1. Open Messages or Mail.

2. Open a conversation or email.

3. Look for a suggested action based on what's being discussed.

4. Click the suggestion.

5. Review the action before confirming it.

You don't need to manually search for the relevant app first.

Note: Apple says Suggestions will initially be available in English.

13. Swipe down to refresh

Here's a tiny feature that might actually make your Mac feel a little more familiar if you also use an iPhone or iPad.

macOS 27 adds swipe down to refresh in apps including Safari, Mail, Podcasts and Calendar.

How to use it

1. Open a supported app such as Safari, Mail, Podcasts or Calender.

2. Place two fingers on your Mac's trackpad.

3. Scroll down from the top of the content.

4. Release.

5. The app will then refresh its content. While it’s refreshing, you’ll see a refresh icon appear on the webpage, so you know the latest information is being loaded.

No button required.

Final thoughts

There's a lot more to macOS 27 Golden Gate than a new design. The new Siri AI is obviously the headline feature, but some of the smaller additions might end up being just as useful.

I'm especially looking forward to Visual Intelligence, smarter Safari tabs, Notify Me, the new Photos tools, improved Passwords and more control over Liquid Glass.

And because many of these features are built into apps you already use every day, you don't have to completely change the way you use your Mac.

Want more Mac tips like this? I share new macOS guides, hidden features, useful tricks, and practical Mac tips every week.

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