With the fourth beta of iOS 26, Apple has again made changes to the Liquid Glass design that's available across the operating system, tweaking how the menus and buttons appear in apps.
In response to criticism about too little Liquid Glass in beta 3, Apple has upped the translucency in several areas.
Beta 4 on left, beta 3 on right
Navigation bars in apps like Photos, Music, the App Store, Podcasts, are slightly clearer, allowing more of the background color to show through.
Beta 4 on left, beta 3 on right
Apple cut down on the frosted glass look, but the changes are small enough that text remains readable, so it appears to be more of a balance between beta 2 and beta 3.
Beta 4 on left, beta 3 on right
Control Center, the Lock Screen, and the Home Screen look largely the same, so most of the transparency changes are focused on app navigation bars and buttons. On the Lock Screen, though, the background darkens as you scroll through notifications.
Beta 4 on right, beta 3 on left
Apple will likely continue to make small changes to Liquid Glass based on user feedback, and we won't see the finalized version of the design until iOS 26 is released in the fall.
Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more.
Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1.
Release Date
Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below.
Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box.
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We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors.
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Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas.
The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week.
The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included.
macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out.
Processor and Performance
Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
Tuesday October 28, 2025 5:27 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is preparing to bring support for its digital car key feature to Jetour vehicles, according to evidence uncovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris.
Introduced in 2022, Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or...
Please for love of sanity MacRumors, be consistent with which image you put on the right versus left. I generally try not to be overly critical, but this is egregious. Also, while you're at it, choose (before=left) and (after=right). This is generally standard as people usually look left to right to match the way they read.
'Liquid Glass' is such an unnecessary and unwanted update. It's simply change for the sake of change because the functional improvements from each iteration of iOS are minimal, at best.
This is worse than beta 3. What the hell is going on at Apple with these UI designers?! Readability is difficult with this nonsense "Liquid Glass" crap. I rather have frosted glass since it's more legible. And forget about the old people because they sure as hell will be having a difficult time reading stuff when iOS26 final comes out this fall. I already have everyone in the "elder" age group telling me it's difficult to see stuff now. Whoever's in charge of the design and UI department needs to be fired.
Beta 4 on left, beta 3 on right
Beta 4 on left, beta 3 on right
Beta 4 on left, beta 3 on right
Beta 4 on right, beta 3 on left
