Golden Gate brings AI front and center to macOS 27 with polished refinements
Ars Technica’s Andrew Cunningham reviews macOS 27 Golden Gate, which makes Apple Intelligence a mandatory system component, updates Siri and Spotlight, and refines design with the return of a more conventional Liquid Glass look. The release adds substantial under-the-hood work in virtualization, display (5K ultrawides and HDR UI), imaging (Photos tools and RAW 9), and Safari 27 features (Notify Me, Describe an Extension), while ending support for Intel Macs and increasing disk-space needs due to AI model downloads. Overall, it’s a solid, if uneven, upgrade that improves everyday usability for most users but raises concerns for those who want to opt out of AI and for older hardware.