Apple has removed many menu item icons in macOS 27 Golden Gate, reversing one of the more debated design changes introduced with macOS 26 Tahoe. The change makes menus look cleaner again, after Tahoe added small icons next to almost every menu item across Apple’s apps.
Developer Nikita “Tonsky” Prokopov shared before-and-after screenshots on Mastodon, showing how macOS 27 removes many of those icons or keeps them only where they make sense.
In macOS 26, Apple used icons widely in menus, but designers and developers criticized the move because many icons looked inconsistent and did not clearly explain the related action. Some apps also used different icons for the same menu items, which made the interface feel less predictable.
Apple has now updated its Human Interface Guidelines and tells developers to use menu item icons sparingly and with purpose. The company says icons work best for common actions, file locations, connected devices, and similar cases.
macOS 27 is currently available as a developer beta, with a public beta planned for next month and a wider release expected in the fall.
