macOS Tahoe 26.4 public beta is here — and these are the best new features for your Mac

macOS 26 — (Image credit: Shutterstock/Tom's Guide)

Apple began rolling out developer beta 1 for macOS Tahoe 26.4 yesterday, and it’s now available for public beta users. Some of these releases can be a bit lean, but this one actually has some useful features to check out.

As 9to5Mac reports, the beta is now available for anyone who’s enrolled in Apple’s free Beta Software Program. If you’ve been holding off on the developer build, this is a good time to dive in, so long as you’re comfortable with potential beta bugs.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s coming to your Mac with version 26.4.

Battery charge limit for MacBooks

MacBook Air M4 vs MacBook Pro M4 with nano display — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

This is the most notable update in this build. As you can currently do on iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe now lets you set a specific Battery Charge Limit. You can choose to cap your maximum charge anywhere between 80% and 100%.

If you’re like me and spend 90% of your time with your MacBook plugged into a wall outlet or dock, this is a good way to maintain long-term battery health. Keeping your battery at a constant 100% can degrade it faster over time, so being able to hard-cap it at 80% while you're at your desk is a feature that has been a long time coming.

The end of Rosetta apps

How to install Rosetta on Mac — (Image credit: Pixabay)

Apple has added new Rosetta warning popups that appear whenever you launch an app built for Intel processors. The pop-up serves as a reminder that macOS 27 (which will likely release later this year) will officially drop support for Rosetta and Intel-based apps.

As we’ve known for a while, macOS Tahoe is the final stop for Intel Macs. If you’re still using a legacy machine, this beta is essentially the beginning of the end. It’s a clear signal from Apple that it’s officially time to upgrade to a Mac with an M-series chip.

Small fixes and Safari tweaks

The Apple Safari logo on macOS

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

For Safari fans, the compact tab bar option has returned to System Settings. It was missing from the initial launch of Tahoe, but it's back for those who prefer a more streamlined browser UI.

Apple also claims to have finally squashed a persistent UI bug regarding window corner radii. Apparently, the window resize pointer wasn't correctly following the curved shape of the windows. That’s a small detail, but one that probably drove some folks crazy.

How to get the macOS Tahoe Public Beta

If you want to try these features yourself, you can head over to beta.apple.com to sign up. Once enrolled, just go to System Settings > General > Software Update and toggle on the Tahoe Public Beta.

Just a word of advice from someone who uses beta builds: Back up your data. While this 26.4 build feels relatively stable, you never want to risk your primary work machine on a beta without a Time Machine backup ready to go.

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Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on X/Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.

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