Apple has seeded macOS Golden Gate Beta 4 to developers, continuing refinements to the operating system before its September 2026 release. The update arrives a week after beta 3 was released to developers.
The earlier beta also includes new animated wallpapers themed around the Golden Gate Bridge, including Golden Gate Sunset and Golden Gate Night options. These animate when unlocking the Mac and can be set as screen savers.
macOS 27 Golden Gate will be the last version to fully support Rosetta 2. This means developers have a defined window to migrate Intel-compiled applications to native Apple silicon code or retire them entirely.
The operating system also includes improvements to several built-in apps such as Safari, Messages, Image Playground, Passowrds, Photos, and much more. Visual Intelligence has also made its way to the Mac, after originally being introduced on the iPhone.
Every Mac running macOS Golden Gate supports Apple Intelligence, but some on-device Siri processing features require an M3 chip or later. This includes Siri’s natural voice selection and upgraded dictation capabilities. Siri AI operates in English and will expand to other languages in the future, with access available through Spotlight (Command + Space) or a dedicated Siri app for extended conversations.
The Apple silicon requirement reflects the machine learning capabilities baked into Apple’s custom chips. By dropping Intel support, Apple can optimize these features around the Neural Engine and other specialized hardware that Intel Macs lack entirely.
Installation requirements are straightforward as macOS 27 Golden Gate runs on Macs with an M1 chip or later, plus the A18 Pro MacBook Neo. Intel Macs cannot run this version. macOS 26 Tahoe remains the final major macOS release for Intel-based Macs and will receive security updates through the 26.x cycle.
Beta 4 is available to registered developers through System Settings > General > Software Update. The public beta launched July 13 and is available for anyone with an Apple ID. The final release arrives in September alongside iOS 27 and iPadOS 27.
