Apple seeded the first developer beta of macOS Tahoe 26.4, and it's a more feature-rich point release than usual. Here's what testers found ahead of the public release, which arrived on March 24, 2026.
Charge Limit Slider
The headline addition is a granular Charge Limit control for MacBooks. Instead of the all-or-nothing "Optimized Charging," you can cap charging anywhere from 80% to 100% in 5% steps — useful for users who keep their laptop plugged in most of the day and want to preserve long-term battery health.
Safari's Compact Tab Bar Returns
Responding to feedback, the beta brings back Safari's compact tab bar as an option, reclaiming vertical space for people who keep many tabs open.
New Emoji and Smaller Touches
- 8 new emoji added to the picker.
- Refinements to Liquid Glass animations and Control Center.
- Various Mail, Messages, and Photos bug fixes.
Security Work
Beta release notes pointed to a large security payload — the final release shipped with 70+ security fixes. As always, beta builds are for testing, not primary machines.
What Didn't Make It
Notably, the anticipated AI-powered Siri upgrade didn't appear in the 26.4 betas. Apple confirmed the delay, pushing the personalized Siri features to a later release.