(Sigh)
Tags :If you put the Apple icons in reverse it looks like the portfolio of someone getting really really good at icon design.
– heliographe.studio on Threads / Jan 14th, 2026
Apple Pages application icons through time
I think my favourite one is in the middle.
Updated on Jan 27th, 2026
Bittersweet Sequoia
I wish I could go back to the previous edition of the Mac’s operating system (macOS 15 Sequoia). I use 3 Macs for work in different settings and contexts, and downgrading would be a significant effort as there is no easy way to downgrade [1,2], but I’m on the edge of pulling the plug and giving it a try.
Reverting to Sequoia is not simple. You need to boot into Recovery OS, erase your internal drive, then install the older macOS, then restore from a backup made prior to the Tahoe upgrade. Even then, the firmware on the Mac will likely have been updated, meaning potential conflicts and a possible need for DFU mode and a Configurator revive/restore, which would need to be done via another Mac connected to yours. If that sounds complicated and risky, then you’re assessing the situation correctly.
– neuroanatomist in Apple Discussions / Nov 11th, 2025
macOS 26 Tahoe is so broken in so many ways, it’s hard to believe. The Mac, and its operating system, has been at the heart of my work day since the late 1980’s. I never downgraded to an earlier version. Not once. I sometimes bit my lip to have upgraded a bit early, but never considered going back.
This latest version introduces so many UI regressions and friction points, that there’s no reason to choose it as of today.
Menu commands are now polluted with noisy, inconsistent icons that undermine one of the Mac’s strongest interface conventions: a clean, readable menu bar. Transparency is applied without restraint, leaving menus, windows, and sidebars visually muddled and, at times, simply ugly. Window corners have become exaggerated and cartoonish, making resizing less precise than it should be. App icons feel oddly juvenile, stripped of clarity and character.
Most people around me tend to think it’s “fine”, and put up with it until they run into something that’s broken or behaves oddly, and that’s when they call me. Most of the time I don’t have a fix or an explanation. Don’t upgrade yet if you are sensitive to how macOS works and behaves, hold off and wish things get fixed. You’re not going to miss out on any new feature, as there aren’t any.
I know this is nothing but a stopgap, as we’ll all have to upgrade eventually. I’m sad I can’t point to Apple’s UX/UI as an example anymore (remember the Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines ?) or as a justification of doing things one way or another. It’s a disappointing mess to see one’s favourite operating system receive so little love.
Elsewhere
- Tahoe’s Terrible Icons by Paul Kafasis
- The struggle of resizing windows on macOS Tahoe by Norbert Heger
- Last Week on My Mac: Tahoe 26.1 disappointments by hoakley
- It’s hard to justify Tahoe icons by Nikita Prokopov
- Icons in Menus Everywhere – Send Help by Jim Nielsen
- macOS 26 Tahoe broke column view in the Finder by Jeff Johnson
- Removing Tahoe’s Unwanted Menu Icons by Paul Kafasis
- Bugs Apple Loves - a satire, but the frustration is real
- Tahoe Added a Finder Option to Resize Columns to Fit Filenames by John Gruber
- A Mitigated Disaster - The Talk Show with Daniel Jalkut
