macOS Monterey Release Candidate Undoes Safari Changes, Reintroduces Old Tab Design

Apple has admitted defeat on the Safari design changes that have been present for the entire macOS Monterey beta, and the release candidate that was provided to developers today reverts to the old style that was available prior to Safari 15.

macos monterey safari design reverted

Safari design in the macOS Monterey release candidate

macOS Monterey now features a standard Big Sur tab design that does have the tabs with spaces in between them, which Mac users who were unhappy with the design update will be pleased to hear.

macos monterey safari design original

Safari design in the prior macOS Monterey beta

The standard tab design is enabled by default and is labeled "Separate" in the Safari preferences, but for those who preferred the original Monterey Safari design, there's also a "Compact" option that merges the URL bar with the tab bar.

Apple in the prior Monterey beta moved the Favorites bar back up above the tab bar, so now Safari looks about the same as it did prior to when Apple made the Monterey changes. There are, however, still new Safari features like Tab Groups.

macOS Monterey with no changes to the Safari design will be coming on Monday, October 25.

Tag: Safari
Related Forum: macOS Monterey

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Top Rated Comments

pcd213 Avatar
51 months ago
HALLELUJAH!
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Anthropogenesis Avatar
51 months ago
I feel like the only person that has liked everything they did with Safari, both on Mac with that design and on iOS with the address bar dropped to the bottom of the screen. Does this also rollback the way the nav bar inherits colors from the web page?
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JDGwf Avatar
51 months ago
And there was much rejoicing.



Attachment Image
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
donster28 Avatar
51 months ago
I like the old tab design. I keep getting confused with the new one mistaking the active tab as the non-active one.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
julesme Avatar
51 months ago
Thanks to Daring Fireball for the eloquent rebuttal; someone at Apple must have been listening.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DogHouseDub Avatar
51 months ago
Macbook Pro reintroduces Magsafe and HDMI. MacOS reintroduces proper tabs.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)