Apple has released the macOS 27 Golden Gate public beta, expanding the macOS 27 beta program to any user willing to test it. The process is straightforward: enroll at beta.apple.com, then grab the update through System Settings.
Before you do that, there are a few critical checks to complete, your hardware, your storage, and whether your Mac has Rosetta 2 installed. Prerequisites: a Mac with an M1 chip or newer (Intel Macs are not supported by macOS 27 at all), at least 17 GB of free storage (more headroom is better), and a current backup.
It goes without saying that you should back up your Mac first. The macOS 27 Golden Gate beta has some known issues so it is better to be safe than sorry. Time Machine works, but one catch applies: macOS 27 removes AFP support which ends compatibility with Apple’s old Time Capsule hardware. If you are still backing up to a Time Capsule, switch to an alternative before upgrading.
Also note that this is the final version of macOS that supports Rosetta. To see which apps on your system still rely on Intel binaries, go to System Settings > General > About > Intel-Based Apps, macOS 27 added this list specifically because Golden Gate is the last release with full Rosetta 2 support.
Installing the Public Beta
- Go to beta.apple.com in Safari and sign in with your Apple Account. Click “Sign Up” to enroll in the Apple Beta Software Program if you have not already. Accept the terms.
- Enroll your Mac by selecting macOS from the list of platforms on the beta site. Follow the on-screen instructions. No separate profile download is required for macOS 27, enrollment links your Apple Account to your device, and the beta will surface in Software Update automatically after a restart.
- Restart your Mac. This step is necessary for the beta entitlement to register.
- Open System Settings and navigate to General > Software Update. You should see macOS 27 Golden Gate listed as an available update. If the beta toggle is not already enabled, click the info icon next to “Beta Updates” and switch it on.
- Download the update. The full installer is approximately 17 GB, so make sure you have enough free market and a stable connection before starting. Expect the download to take a while depending on your internet speed.
- Click Update Now and let the installer run. Your Mac will restart during installation. The process typically takes 20 to 40 minutes on M-series hardware, though this varies.
- Complete setup. After the first boot into macOS 27, you will step through a brief setup assistant before reaching the desktop.
A Note on M1 and M2 Macs
Every Mac with an M1 or M2 chip runs macOS 27 Golden Gate without issue, but two specific features are gated to M3 or later with at least 12 GB of RAM: the improved Dictation and the custom Siri voice option. If your Mac does not meet that bar, those features simply will not appear. Everything else, including the new Siri app, Visual Intelligence, and the Liquid Glass transparency slider, works on M1 and M2.
If you would rather not install the beta on your primary drive, you can also install macOS 27 on a separate APFS volume and boot into it on demand. That approach keeps your main macOS 26 Tahoe installation completely intact. The tradeoff is extra storage consumption and the overhead of managing two system volumes, but it is the safer option if you depend on your Mac for daily work. Detailed preparation guide is available here.
