Despite all my tech-savvy friends warning me, I went ahead and installed macOS Tahoe. Developer Betas, especially the first release, aren’t made for everyday users. And sure enough, I ran into issues. Some were personal annoyances, like the awkward new design and overly playful animations. However, most were real performance issues: lagging, app incompatibilities, and overheating. Worst of all, the highly anticipated Apple Intelligence features aren’t live yet.
So if you’re thinking of upgrading (if you can even call it that), I suggest taking a step back. Between the bugs, design quirks, and missing AI features, macOS Tahoe feels more like a work-in-progress than a proper update. Here’s what you’re actually signing up for.
1. Unfamiliar New UI
The first thing I noticed was how oversized and intrusive everything looked. The buttons, sliders, and control surfaces all feel cartoonishly large, especially in System Settings and Finder. Apple’s leaning hard into the rounded, almost iPadOS-style design language, and honestly, it doesn’t suit macOS.
I’ve been using Mac for nearly a decade, and what initially drew me in was the subtlety of its user interface. It was minimal without being bare. Functional without being flashy. macOS used to respect your focus. It didn’t shove giant toggles and bloated menus in your face. Now, everything feels louder. I feel like the OS is constantly trying to show off how touch-friendly it could be, even though MacBooks still don’t have touchscreens.
Sure, Apple might refine the sizing and spacing in later betas, or maybe we’ll all just get used to it. But right now, it’s a jarring shift. If I had a say, I’d argue that scaling everything up and rounding off every corner isn’t the visual upgrade the Mac needed.
2. Lack of New Apple Intelligence Features
Maybe I could forgive everything on this list if macOS Tahoe actually had something to show for. But it didn’t. Most of the Apple Intelligence features announced at WWDC 25 are still unavailable in the Developer Beta. And considering AI is supposed to be the headline feature of this entire release, it’s a pretty major letdown.
That said, the delays aren’t surprising. Apple Intelligence had a staggered rollout last year too, starting with iOS before slowly making its way to macOS. That was understandable then because Apple was still introducing its first LLM-powered features and figuring out the infrastructure. with macOS Tahoe, however, they’ve had a year of experience and clearer expectations. It just feels like marketing got ahead of engineering.
3. Reduced Performance
Right after installing macOS Tahoe, I noticed a massive drop in responsiveness. Apps that usually launched instantly now take a few extra seconds to open. Even switching between desktops, which is something I do constantly using Mission Control, feels noticeably sluggish.
I know bugs are part of any Developer Beta, and maybe I’m being overly pedantic, but compared to previous early builds, this one feels more laggy than usual. Animations stutter, loading indicators hang longer than they should, and overall the system just doesn’t feel as snappy.
4. Sluggish Animations
The new UI in macOS Tahoe comes with refreshed animations, and sure, some of them look sleek. However, they feel half-baked. Animations stutter constantly when switching between apps or triggering Mission Control. If I have a couple of RAM-heavy tools running, like Figma and Chrome with multiple tabs, macOS just freezes up. I’m talking about a full UI lockup for several seconds.
I rely on my Mac for work, so lag-free animations are non negotiable. Apple really needs to optimize these transitions, or at least offer a way to tone them down until the system can handle them properly.
5. Poor Battery Life
Between the laggy performance and overly animated transitions, you can probably guess what came next: terrible battery life. I wasn’t even running anything demanding, just my usual mix of Safari, Notes, and Slack, yet I still had to plug in by early afternoon. Battery drain has been brutal since the update.
Apple usually addresses battery efficiency in later beta cycles, so there’s hope this gets fixed. But for now, if you need your Mac to last through a full workday, macOS Tahoe Developer Beta isn’t a reliable option.
6. Device Heating
It’s pretty predictable at this point that my device would overheat. Sure, it’s summer, but it’s not normal for my Mac to feel hot to the touch just from opening a few tabs. At one point, I wasn’t even doing anything intensive and could already hear the fans kicking in.
That said, overheating isn’t unusual for early betas. Even iOS gets hot on developer releases too, so it’ll probably get patched in later builds. Still, for a daily driver, that heat makes long sessions nearly unbearable.
7. App Compatibility Issues
Now, this one isn’t entirely Apple’s fault, but it still drove me nuts. A lot of apps just don’t work well on macOS Tahoe yet. Some crashed on launch, others froze mid-use, and a few had UI elements completely misaligned or overlapping with the system’s new design.
To be fair, Apple Intelligence’s open LLM framework suggests a more engaging, intertwined ecosystem between native and third-party apps. But that’s still a ways off. For now, we’re stuck with broken apps and a developer ecosystem that’s still catching up.
It’s pretty clear that macOS Tahoe isn’t ready for daily use. Unless you’re testing, developing, or writing about Apple software, there’s no real reason to update yet. It’s better to wait for the stable release later this year. In the meantime, stick with macOS Sequoia, which is still getting minor and point updates.
If you already made the mistake of jumping in too early, you can still downgrade to a previous macOS version. It’ll take a bit of effort, but your Mac (and your sanity) will thank you.
Thanks all for the comments. Apple is now stressing me with update prompts, but frick it all, I’ll stick to Sequoia – which was a nice surprise, as I had no hope for Apple to get good ever after Snow Leopard. Everything after that is garbage – and Sequoia is the best in that world of garbage.
The look is simply TACKY. Someone mentioned “Fischer Price”. That is apt. Where is Jobs’ taste and insistence on keeping art in the user experience?
The MacOS interface has been in steady decline for years, increasingly not user friendly, due to its move to “eye candy” over functional design. Integration with Windows networks is also increasingly unreliable. I like the earlier comment that the interface looks like something from a Fisher Price toy. Its as if if Apple can’t make the interface more useful, or add productivity tools to the OS, it changes the look to make it appear there’s some sort of added value. Pretty much the same for iOS too.
Thanks guys for your honest comments! I have used mac for 27 years. I will stay with Sequoia as long as I can. Apple has been going down the hill since Jobs died. Tim Cook is operations man and seems to have no taste nor idea of user-centred thinking. What all kind of garbage they have brought to the market (the toucbar, taking away the magnetic cable to have more laptops to fly on the floor etc.) This rounded design is just not usable, Macbooks are not toys like iphones they are ment for serious work… Apple is heading to become like Microsoft the garbage maker.
I regret updating. It feels like a cheap MacOS knock-off. Transparency in the right places can be cool, but the places they’ve put it don’t feel well thought out. I hate the extra border-radius/bubble look and feel. Overall a lot of UI clutter that makes everything feel less clean.
All this amid the nerfing of spotlight — you currently can’t turn off file search with it (it’s broken) so spotlight is majorly cluttered in Tahoe.
I agree with you. Let’s write a petition against this childish, bloated, poorly proportioned, sugary, cluttered, kitschy, sluggish, disruprtive, candy-like caricature of serious design of visual user interface!
Really regret upgrading. So much seems half finished, I mean no titles in TV anymore – how could a bug like that get through? Makes it unusable!
Tried the release and also 26.1 beta inside a UTM VM on a fast Mac mini pro. Tahoe is complete garbage as expected. Laggy stuttery ugly crap changed for the worse in every way for no reason. Luckily M4 and earlier devices will continue to run Sequoia just fine for a while. Any of the new M5 stuff coming out later is likely to only work with Tahoe and bayond, unfortunately.
I’m 83 going on 84 & in the UK. I have 700 odd CDs on my mini Mac that I’m constantly correcting mistakes. After burning 3 new CDs to iMusic & after downloading Tahoe I tried to sync with my iPhone but nothing happened. Previously it automatically synced with the little black disc showing the progress & the iPhone page showing what it was doing. After talking to an Apple Techie in Ireland I was told I now have to go into Finder, click on my iPhone & I will see it syncing as before with the iPhone page.
And they call this progress? I prefer the previous automatic system
Wow, the first developer beta had issues. Who would have thought?
This kind of “48 hours with macOS Tahoe” article is just lazy clickbait, suggesting it was the final version. Most of the issues he moans about — battery, sluggishness, glitches — are the usual beta stuff and already improved. Most of the criticised design changes were also tuned down. I’ve been running Tahoe since day one on my main Mac without any major problems.
This aged poorly. As someone who uses it daily (not beta) its so much worse than the prior OS.
Wow, the author installed the first developer beta and he had issues!!! Shocking! A lot of that has been addressed since, by the way. I don’t see any overly dramatic design changes that would hold me back in everyday use, and there are a lot of practical improvements on iOS, ipadOS and macOS Tahoe.
I’ve been using only Mac for the last 15 years and been on Tahoe since the first developer beta in production, just like the author. I had no major issues.
Wow, the author installed the first developer beta and he had issues!!! Shocking! A lot of that has been addressed since, by the way. I don’t see any overly dramatic design changes that would hold me back in everyday use, and there are a lot of practical improvements on iOS, ipadOS and macOS Tahoe.
I’ve been using only Mac for the last 15 years and been on Tahoe since the first developer beta in production, just like the author. I had no major issues.
Agreed, save for the Apple Intelligence trash, which I want no part of, so I could care less.
I, though, didn’t get a choice in the matter. Apple foisted Tahoe on me when I sent my laptop in for service.
Sadly it is the same in the final version. Totally agree with everything in the post. Should I have only found it before upgrading 🙁
The buttons are insanely huge but no touch screen. My personally I don’t care about a touch screen. System looks bad, overheating is very bad on my m1 MacBook and battery life took a huge dive. Never had any issues with the previous version. The laptop got hot to the touch and became uncomfortable only with 5 tabs in Safari. So sad that Apple released this unfinished version.
The Mac OS looks like it was designed by Fisher Price. Apple should be ashamed of itself but, unfortunately, we know that at Apple the Emperor wears no clothes. What a sad company Apple has become.
Horrible, unnecessary, bloated, ugly, insert whatever… Glass!? Why the hell I need glass interface?
Long gone are the days of design sense in this company…. Interface is coming to the point it’s embarrassing to work on it as a professional.
Sept 22, 2025 : NOT happy. Many annoying changes I never wanted. Why the…did they move EVERYTHING into a single APPS bucket, when Launch Pad was fine. At least give me a choice !!
It’s an awful upgrade, period. Total mistake on my part to have upgraded to this current garbage system. Have told everyone with a Mac to stay away from this joke!