Apple released macOS 27 Golden Gate – what’s new and which Macs are supported

Apple released macOS 27 Golden Gate. The update is now available for compatible Mac computers and brings new Siri AI, Visual Intelligence, an improved Liquid Glass, and a number of performance enhancements. At the same time, macOS 27 officially ends the Intel era: the system can be installed only on Macs with Apple processors.

Siri AI and new Apple Intelligence features

The main innovation in macOS 27 is Siri AI. The assistant can now consider the user’s personal context, search for information in messages, email, and photos, answer questions about screen content, and perform actions within apps.

Siri AI is integrated into Spotlight, so you can access the assistant directly from system search. A separate Siri app has also been introduced with conversation history that syncs across Apple devices via iCloud.

Visual Intelligence first appeared on Mac. Users can select a window or screen area using Command + Shift + Space, then ask Siri to explain the content or perform an action with it, such as adding an event to the calendar.

Siri AI is currently available in beta and operates in English. Apple promises to add French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish in October. Unlike iPhone and iPad, Mac owners in the European Union can already use Siri AI by selecting a supported language.

Apple Intelligence requires a Mac with an M1 processor or newer, or a MacBook Neo with an A18 Pro chip. The most powerful local Apple model and its associated features require at least a Mac with an M3 chip and 12 GB of unified memory.

Safari, Photos, and Shortcuts

The Photos app now includes Spatial Reframing and Extend tools. The former lets you adjust the composition of an existing photo, while the latter expands the image beyond its original boundaries. Apple has also improved Clean Up for removing objects from photos.

Safari can now automatically group open tabs by topic. The Notify Me feature can monitor changes on websites and alert users, for example, about price drops or when an item returns to stock.

Another feature, Describe an Extension, allows you to describe the desired Safari extension in plain text, after which the system will attempt to create it automatically.

A similar principle has been introduced in the Teams app. Users can describe the required automation in natural language, and the system will automatically select the appropriate sequence of actions.

Liquid Glass and performance

Apple has refined the Liquid Glass interface introduced a year ago. A transparency slider has been added in settings, allowing users to choose an appearance ranging from nearly transparent to heavily tinted. The company also adjusted the contrast of elements, toolbars, side panels, window shapes, and system icons.

Changes also affected performance. Apple claims faster file transfers via AirDrop, improved performance with network storage, and quicker loading of the Safari start page. Switching between desktops and Mission Control is now smoother, and uploading photos to iCloud starts faster.

The system better remembers window positions when connecting and disconnecting external monitors. Additional high-resolution and high-refresh-rate modes have also been added for external displays.

Search in Spotlight, Mail, and Photos has become more stable, and Mail received a new result ranking system. When using Sidecar, support for touch control on iPad has been expanded.

Which Macs support macOS 27?

macOS 27 Golden Gate is the first macOS version that does not work at all on computers with Intel processors. The update is supported by:

• MacBook Neo 2026;
• MacBook Air with Apple Silicon from 2020 and later;
• MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon from 2020 and later;
• iMac 2021 and later;
• Mac mini 2020 and later;
• Mac Studio from 2022 and later;
• Mac Pro from 2023 and later.

Compared to macOS 26 Tahoe, support has been dropped for four recent Intel Macs: the 13-inch MacBook Pro (2020) with four Thunderbolt 3 ports, the 16-inch MacBook Pro (2019), the 27-inch iMac (2020), and the Mac Pro (2019).

At the same time, Intel-based applications on computers with Apple Silicon will continue to work for now. macOS 27 became the last major version of the system with full support for Rosetta 2, which translates applications built for Intel to run on Apple processors.

macOS 27 Golden Gate is distributed free of charge and installed via the ‘General’ → ‘Software Update’ section in System Settings.

At the same time, Apple released updates for its other operating systems, including iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, as well as tvOS 27, visionOS 27, and HomePod software 27.