Ignore the haters – Apple’s Liquid Glass theme is one of my favorite parts of macOS Tahoe – 1v1 Video Chat & LIve Streaming & Influencer Subscription

TechRadar the technology experts

Search TechRadar

View Profile

België (Nederlands)

Deutschland

North America

US (English)

Australasia

New Zealand

Tech Radar Pro

Tech Radar Gaming

Amazon Prime Day
Smart Home Week
Nintendo Switch 2

Best web hosting
NYT Wordle today
Best laptop

You may like

‘99% of the work doesn’t make it out’ – Apple’s VP of Human Interface Design on how Liquid Glass hits the high bar

Ooh, shiny! I hate myself for being so excited about Liquid Glass in iOS 26

Apple’s new Liquid Glass UI design unveiled at WWDC 2025 is nothing new – I can see right through it

After my own testing, however, I disagree – I think macOS is the best platform so far for Liquid Glass, and that a larger display helps mitigate some of the main problems with the new look. To me, the implementation on macOS is much less troublesome than on iOS.

Sure, perhaps the design would look better on an OLED Mac, but since those don’t exist yet and I don’t have a standalone OLED monitor, I’m happy with how it looks. In my eyes, the best MacBooks and Macs are where Liquid Glass truly shines so far.
Objectionable overlaps

(Image credit: Apple / Future)
To understand why Liquid Glass feels right at home on a Mac, you’ve first got to understand the problems the redesign is facing on iOS.
In contrast to macOS, iOS needs to exist on much smaller screens, and that means there are far more overlapping elements in play. The Control Center, notification popups, and app folders all appear on top of other on-screen objects, where they’re forced to share space in a way they aren’t on a larger Mac display. So far, I’ve found that this overlapping often makes it difficult to read text on the screen, especially if the image behind is bright or complex.
With macOS, your larger display means there are likely to be fewer overlapping elements, helping to avoid this problem. With more space to breathe, it doesn’t really matter if the glassy effects make certain things harder to read underneath if there’s nothing below them in the first place.
The times when Liquid Glass in macOS Tahoe uses full transparency – such as when you open the Control Center – are few and far between. In most cases, you can customize the amount of transparency. In fact, Control Center is one of the few occasions where you have to use the full-on glass effect.
And even so, thanks to the Mac’s larger screen, it’s rare for this to overlap anything on the screen below. When it does overlay something, it’s less of a problem because Apple has added a drop shadow behind the Control Center, helping it stand out. It’s not perfect, but it feels less objectionable than on iOS.
At home on macOS

(Image credit: Apple)
Having more screen real estate brings other benefits. For instance, one of my favorite aspects of Liquid Glass is the transparent Dock. I keep my Dock icons solid rather than using one of the translucent options Apple provides, and that results in a set of bright, colorful icons resting on a clear glass slate. It looks beautiful, especially with macOS Tahoe’s default blue background. Sure, iOS 26’s Dock can also do this, but it can only hold a handful of icons. The Dock in macOS is far larger, giving me much more eye candy to enjoy.
In other words, I get the subtle effects of Liquid Glass without having to make all of my icons transparent (and thus harder to see). I’m not a fan of the ‘totally clear’ effect – that’s too much glass for my liking – and using the new design tweaks in moderation really helps the Mac feel like the best place for Apple’s redesign.
And it’s not just iOS that gets trumped by the Mac’s implication of Liquid Glass – watchOS 26 does too. Take app toolbars, which have a new translucent blur effect. This works better than Liquid Glass on watchOS, where I’ve found this blur effect makes it very difficult to see certain figures in the Fitness app. I’ve not come across any such annoyances on my Mac.

(Image credit: Apple)
I’ve written before about how Liquid Glass gave me a welcome nostalgia trip to the days of the Aero theme in Windows Vista and Windows 7. After a few weeks’ usage across macOS, iOS, and watchOS, I can say that Liquid Glass’s implementation on macOS is my favorite across the platforms. Maybe I like it because it reminds me of that old Windows theme, or maybe I like it simply because it feels like it’s most at home on a Mac. Either way, it just feels a lot more natural in macOS than anywhere else.
Every year, Apple uses the beta period to make plenty of changes to its new features, and there’s no doubt Liquid Glass will see a host of adjustments between now and the full version release later in the year. That could mean it becomes a lot more viable away from macOS over the next few months, and given my frustrations with Liquid Glass in iOS and watchOS so far, I’m hoping that proves to be true.
For now, though, I’m very happy with Apple’s new look on macOS – even if it’s left me wishing for improvements everywhere else.
You might also like

WWDC’s best announcement was something Windows did 15 years ago—here’s why it’s awesome
Apple’s new Liquid Glass design puts the spotlight on skeuomorphism for the first time since iOS 6 – and I’m all for it
Microsoft makes fun of macOS Tahoe’s Liquid Glass redesign for ripping off Windows Vista – but Apple could have the last laugh

Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Social Links Navigation
Freelance Contributor

Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he’s learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That’s all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

‘99% of the work doesn’t make it out’ – Apple’s VP of Human Interface Design on how Liquid Glass hits the high bar

Ooh, shiny! I hate myself for being so excited about Liquid Glass in iOS 26

Apple’s new Liquid Glass UI design unveiled at WWDC 2025 is nothing new – I can see right through it

For Liquid Glass, ‘the most obvious inspiration was visionOS’, says Craig Federighi

iOS 26 launch live: all the new features plus reaction to the polarizing Liquid Glass redesign

Don’t call it a Mac – I went hands-on with iPadOS 26, here’s what you need to know

Latest in macOS

It’s 2025 and Apple has still not fixed this ancient Mac bug – but here’s a solution

It’s official: your Intel Mac won’t get macOS 27, with macOS Tahoe 26 marking the end of an era

macOS Tahoe 26 finally adds a much-needed feature that means I may never use Windows 11 again

macOS Tahoe 26 announced at WWDC 2025 with a new look and new numbering scheme: these are the best features for your new Mac or MacBook

Most Intel MacBook Pro laptops could miss out on macOS 26 according to new rumor – will future updates be Apple silicon only?

How to download the macOS Tahoe 26 developer beta

Latest in Opinion

If the iPhone 17 misses this display upgrade once again, I’ve had enough

I’ve played with some of the best gaming keyboards around, but this analog model is the one I keep coming back to – here’s why

I hope Samsung Galaxy Watch 8’s new Ultra-style squircle design rumor is actually true

How data conversations unlock the transformative potential of AI

CISOs are rethinking security in a fragmented cloud world

Democratized cybercrime: a new lower bar for hackers and higher stakes for security