macOS Tahoe 26.5 Release Candidate Now Available

Monday May 4, 2026 10:14 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today provided the release candidate version of an upcoming macOS Tahoe 26.5 update to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming a week after Apple seeded the fourth beta.

Developers can download the ‌macOS Tahoe‌ 26.5 update by opening up the System Settings app, selecting the General category, and then choosing Software Update. Beta Updates will need to be enabled, and a free developer account is required.

No new features were found in the first four ‌macOS Tahoe‌ 26.5 betas, and it's likely the update primarily focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements.

Related Roundup: macOS Tahoe

Related Forum: macOS Tahoe

Popular Stories

Second macOS Tahoe 26.5 Beta Now Available for Developers

Monday April 13, 2026 10:07 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today provided the second beta of an upcoming macOS Tahoe 26.5 update to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming two weeks after the first beta. Developers can download the macOS Tahoe 26.5 update by opening up the System Settings app, selecting the General category, and then choosing Software Update. Beta Updates will need to be enabled, and a free developer account is ...

• 8 comments

Apple Continues Promoting iOS 26 and macOS 26 Liquid Glass With Updated Design Gallery

Monday April 6, 2026 4:14 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Apple is continuing to highlight the Liquid Glass aesthetic that it introduced in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26. The company has shared an updated Liquid Glass Design Gallery that shows off Liquid Glass in third-party apps. The visual gallery features several iPhone and iPad apps, with screenshots that show the difference between app design in iOS 18 and iOS 26. In the latest edition of...

• 196 comments

Apple Releases macOS Tahoe 26.4.1 With MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Wi-Fi Fix

Thursday April 9, 2026 10:18 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.4.1, a minor update to the macOS Tahoe operating system that came out last September. macOS Tahoe 26.4.1 comes two weeks after Apple launched macOS Tahoe 26.4. Mac users can download the new software by opening up the System Settings app and navigating to the Software Update section. According to Apple, macOS Tahoe 26.4.1 addresses an issue that could...

• 70 comments

Top Rated Comments

jclo

31 minutes ago at 10:30 am

Ik it's fixed but come on

This was up for like a minute before I fixed it. I'm soooooo glad it's immortalized! I'm just going to blame the fact that it's a Monday and ask for forgiveness.

If anyone wants a longer explanation: After there is a beta, I usually get the next post ready to go so we are prepared for the following beta or RC. Last week, I was working from the airport, and when I did the fourth beta post, I didn't get another beta post ready. I then ignored the 3/29 reminder I wrote myself to prepare new beta posts. So when the macOS Tahoe RC came up, I was unprepared. I opened up Byword where I keep my drafts so I could copy the install/feature info quick and get the RC article up in a timely manner. Except I searched for macOS Tahoe 26.4 instead of macOS Tahoe 26.5 and grabbed the text from the wrong article. It's pretty rare I don't have these ready early and I'm usually not in a rush, so hopefully it won't happen again.

I hope the rest of you are having a better Monday!

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

jakeowens

45 minutes ago at 10:15 am

26.5?

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Lounge vibes 05

19 minutes ago at 10:41 am

Kind of a strange significant thing, this will likely be the last RC/version of macOS to include literally any user facing changes to run on Intel computers.
Of course there will be a 26.6 in July and a 26.7 in September and even likely a 26.8 next year but those are almost always exclusively security update fixes.
This is the last time Intel Macs are receiving the latest available update beta or otherwise that all other Macs are receiving.
For reference the last time this happened was Leopard 10.5.8 in August 2009, released just a couple weeks before snow leopard. I don’t really count the SL betas the way I do now because they weren’t exactly a click away, you had to have access to the install DVD.
Curiously both Tahoe and Leopard, the last operating system to run on Intel and PowerPC respectively, were both not exactly warmly received UI refreshes that were/likely will be followed by massive cleanup releases with the following update.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

tywebb13

38 minutes ago at 10:22 am

build number is 25F71

other rcs released today

iOS 18.7.9 RC 1 (22H355)
iPadOS 18.7.9 RC 1 (22H355)
macOS 15.7.7 RC 3 (24G720)
macOS 14.8.7 RC 3 (23J520)
iOS 26.5 RC 1 (23F75)
iPadOS 26.5 RC 1 (23F75)
watchOS 26.5 RC 1 (23T570)
visionOS 26.5 RC 1 (23O471)
tvOS 26.5 RC 1 (23L471)
audioOS 26.5 RC 1 (23L471)

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)