Apple has released the macOS Golden Gate 27.3 public beta, two days after registered developers received their beta. The beta adds Safari vertical tabs, and it is also the version where Apple starts checking iCloud links shared with Anyone with the link for harmful content.
The update follows macOS Golden Gate 27.2, which reached everyone on October 26. Developers have had build 26C5035r since November 3, and anyone in the Apple Beta Software Program can now install the public beta. Apple has not announced a release date for the final version.
The macOS Golden Gate 27.3 public beta starts the iCloud public link check
Apple says the iCloud public link check starts in version 27.3 of iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS. The check applies to anything you share with the Anyone with the link option, such as a photo in iCloud Photos or a file in iCloud Drive.
Items shared that way are no longer end-to-end encrypted, even when Advanced Data Protection is turned on. Apple can move, refuse, modify, remove or delete flagged content at any time, and the company can block or disable the Apple Account behind that content.
Apple has not said what counts as harmful content or how the check works. The other ways to share from iCloud are People you choose, which limits access to the people you invite or approve, and Send a Copy, which passes along the item itself instead of a link.
Vertical tabs and menu bar Live Activities are the Mac features to try first
Safari 27.3 adds vertical tabs, a layout for navigating and managing your tabs that leaves more of the window to the webpage. Apple is testing Safari 27.3 on macOS Tahoe and macOS Sequoia as well, and the company has not said which of the new features those Macs get.
Adaptive Dark Mode shows bright websites in a dark view when they have no dark mode of their own, and Apple built it for browsing at night or in dark environments. Safari’s XML document viewer gets a dark mode too.
The beta also brings Live Activities in the menu bar to Macs without a Dynamic Island. Developers can start a Live Activity from a Mac app with ActivityKit and build its views with SwiftUI, and the same activity shows in the menu bar and in the Dynamic Island of the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display.
Markdown in Quick Look is the other change you will notice. A .md file now previews with its headings, bold text, lists and links applied instead of raw syntax, so you can read the file without opening an editor.
Smaller changes in the beta
- macOS now warns you when you print with a printer driver that needs Rosetta and has no Apple silicon update, and offers to install Rosetta if the Mac does not have it yet. AirPrint, which is built into most printers, avoids the warning because it needs no driver.
- Audio plug-ins and print dialog extensions that need Rosetta also trigger a notice, and macOS shows them in the Intel-based apps section of General settings.
- The beta stops curl, git and other Terminal tools from trusting the compromised eMudhra certificates, which Safari and Mail have blocked since October 19.
- Siri on the Mac cannot find app entities that third-party apps donate to Spotlight unless the entities conform to a schema.
Enroll a Mac with Apple silicon and back it up before installing
You can install the macOS Golden Gate public beta from Software Update after you enroll your Apple Account in the free Apple Beta Software Program. Every Mac that runs macOS Golden Gate uses Apple silicon, so an Intel Mac cannot install the public beta.
Apple recommends backing up your Mac with Time Machine and installing betas on a secondary partition or another Mac, because beta software can contain errors. Installing the beta does not void your hardware warranty, and you have to restore a previously released version of macOS before you contact AppleCare for help. To stop receiving betas, unenroll the Mac from the program and install the next shipping release from Software Update when it arrives.
