Apple has released macOS 27 Golden Gate, introducing a redesigned Siri experience alongside updates to Photos, Safari, Mail, Notes and other core Mac apps. The release also adds interface controls, performance improvements and a wide range of smaller changes that may be easy to miss.

Some of the most notable features depend on language, region or Mac hardware. Siri AI remains in beta and is initially rolling out in English, while some of its capabilities require a newer Apple silicon Mac.

Siri and Apple Intelligence features

Spotlight is now the main destination for asking Siri questions or searching across the Mac. Its new “Search or Ask” bar can support a conversation, find information in apps such as Mail and Photos, and perform actions in supported applications.

macOS also includes a dedicated Siri app for starting conversations and reviewing previous chats. Conversations can be searched, pinned and synchronized across Apple devices. Users can switch from Siri AI to ChatGPT, although conversation context does not carry over between the two services.

Visual Intelligence comes to Mac through the Shift-Command-Space shortcut. After selecting part of the screen, users can ask Siri to explain or translate it, find similar images or identify related information. Recognized details can also be used for actions, such as adding an event from a flyer to Calendar.

Write with Siri can draft, revise or shorten text in many places where typing is supported. Shortcuts can also create automations from plain-language instructions, while Apple Intelligence can suggest names for files and folders based on their contents.

Photos receives major editing and sharing updates

The Photos app adds several practical tools. Reframe can alter the apparent perspective or composition of compatible images, while Extend expands an image’s borders and uses generative AI to fill in the added space. Clean Up uses newer models to remove more complex objects and offers Fast, High Quality and Auto modes. Apple notes that usage limits may apply.

Users can now save an individual frame from a video as a still photo. Photos also adds keywords and one-to-five-star ratings for photos and videos, with ratings available as a filter after being enabled in settings. Slideshows can start from any album or collection and can be saved as video.

Shared Albums now support full-resolution photos and videos, but their contents begin counting toward iCloud storage. Android and Windows users can contribute through iCloud.com, and albums can include expiration dates, activity reviews and emoji reactions.

Safari, interface and everyday app changes

Safari’s Start Page gains a Recently Viewed section that can restore closed browsing topics and sessions from other devices. The browser can automatically group related tabs, monitor pages for changes such as restocks or price drops, and generate extensions from plain-language descriptions.

System Settings adds a Liquid Glass transparency slider ranging from clear to tinted. Apple has also adjusted contrast, window shadows, toolbars and sidebars to make controls easier to distinguish. App icons receive additional Liquid Glass detail, and desktop widgets can be expanded to an extra-large portrait size.

Other changes include swipe-down-to-refresh support in Safari, Mail, News, Podcasts and Calendar; relevance-based Mail search; resizable iPhone Mirroring windows; native drawing tools in Notes and Freeform; and richer video playback controls in Podcasts. Calendar can create or modify events from natural-language descriptions.

Apple also says macOS 27 improves AirDrop, network-share browsing, Safari Start Page loading, Mission Control and Spaces animations. External display support gains additional resolution and refresh-rate choices, while macOS is better at restoring window and Space arrangements after a display reconnects.