Apple users may already have strong opinions about iOS 27 and the agentified iPhone. In Apple’s mainstay Mac ecosystem, AI Siri is less profound and less invasive, and I may appreciate it that much more because of it. There are some aspects of the new UI that make the newly launched macOS 27 Golden Gate public beta feel like a mere surface-level update. That doesn’t mean there aren’t significant changes going on under the hood. I’ve been perusing the developer beta train for more than a month, and the more controversial elements of macOS 26—the transparency of the UI and the maligned, oddly-shaped corners of macOS Tahoe’s “Liquid Glass” look—have been dialed back. Now, the corner radii of every window are uniform and match the arch of the Mac’s screen bezels. It sets the stage for an inevitable touchscreen MacBook. There are other small additions that add up. Just as announced at WWDC 2026, the Passwords app includes a handy feature that will tell you if your logins are compromised. More minute changes, like the ability to swipe down to refresh in Safari or Mail, are genuinely useful if you’re keen to use Apple’s mainstay apps. Other features, like better support for 5K at 120Hz refresh rates when connected to external displays, will matter to a few but vocal Mac users. But, of course, the one feature you’re forced to care about is Apple Intelligence. Just like on the iOS 27 beta, Golden Gate subsumes AI-enhanced Siri into each M-series Mac and the MacBook Neo. Siri now roosts inside the right-click menu and Spotlight, meaning it’s only a quick CMD+Space prompt to receive a response without needing to open the app. However, unlike the iPhone-based Siri, you may not even feel its presence unless you’re intentionally trying to use it. In all my time with Siri, it rarely changed how I used my Mac beyond acting like a more agentic, less ad-filled Google search.