macOS Tahoe 26.4 Beta 2: Every Change Apple Just Made to Your Mac

Quick Brief

• macOS 26.4 adds a native Charge Limit setting, letting users cap MacBook battery charging between 80% and 100%
• Safari’s compact tab bar returns after Apple removed it in the original macOS Tahoe 26 release
• Rosetta 2 end-of-support warnings now appear when launching Intel-only apps, with full discontinuation arriving in macOS 28
• Gemini-powered Siri features are confirmed absent from 26.4, potentially delayed to iOS 26.5 in May or iOS 27 in September 2026

Apple shipped macOS Tahoe 26.4 Beta 2 on February 23, 2026, carrying build number 25E5218f. This release arrives one week after Beta 1 and begins drawing a hard line for Intel Mac users while quietly fixing what the original Tahoe launch got wrong. What lands here will change how you manage your MacBook battery, how you browse in Safari, and how much time your Intel-era software has left.

The Charge Limit Feature Mac Users Have Needed for Years

For years, MacBook owners relied on third-party apps to cap battery charging and protect long-term health. macOS Tahoe 26.4 puts that control directly inside System Settings.

Users can now set a preferred maximum charge level anywhere between 80% and 100%. This is a manual ceiling, not a prediction. Once the MacBook hits that percentage, charging stops completely until you change the setting.

This matters most for users who keep their MacBook plugged in for extended periods at a desk workstation or during long work sessions. Lithium-ion batteries degrade faster when held near 100% charge over time. Giving users direct control over this threshold is a meaningful quality-of-life and hardware longevity improvement.

The feature mirrors what Apple already offers on iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. It differs from Apple’s existing Optimized Battery Charging, which uses machine learning to predict when to pause charging based on your daily patterns. The new Charge Limit option is direct and immediate: set it, and the Mac obeys. Both options coexist in System Settings.

Also Read iOS 26.4 Beta 2: Apple Targets Messaging Security, AI Music, and Device Protection

Safari Gets Its Compact Tab Bar Back

When macOS Tahoe 26 launched on September 15, 2025, Apple removed the compact tab bar layout from Safari as part of the Liquid Glass interface overhaul. The response from users was clear.

macOS 26.4 Beta 1 restored the compact tab bar option from System Settings. Users who preferred the original, space-efficient layout can now reactivate it. This is not a new feature. It is Apple acknowledging that the removal did not work for a significant portion of its user base.

For users who run multiple tabs across large research sessions or content workflows, the compact layout offers more screen real estate and faster visual scanning. The return of this option signals that Apple is paying close attention to feedback from macOS Tahoe’s early rollout.

The Corner Radius Bug: Still Unresolved

macOS Tahoe 26 introduced a persistent UI bug where the window resize pointer does not correctly follow the curved shape of windows. Apple’s release notes for Beta 1 initially listed this as fixed, then reversed that status to a “known issue”.

Beta 2 may address this, but Apple has not confirmed the fix. For users who resize windows frequently, the disconnect between the pointer and the window corner remains a daily irritant that has persisted across multiple Tahoe point releases.

Rosetta 2 Warnings Begin: Your Intel Apps Are Running Out of Time

Starting with macOS Tahoe 26.4, every time you open an app that depends on Rosetta 2, a popup appears. It alerts you that the app will stop working when Rosetta 2 support ends with macOS 28.

Here is the precise timeline, verified across multiple sources:

• macOS Tahoe 26 is the final macOS release that runs on Intel-based Macs
• macOS 27 will run exclusively on Apple Silicon but will still include Rosetta 2 for translation
• macOS 28, expected in fall 2027, will largely discontinue Rosetta 2
• After macOS 28, Apple will retain a limited Rosetta subset for older, unmaintained gaming titles and software running Intel binaries in Linux VMs

Rosetta 2 launched alongside the Apple Silicon transition at WWDC20 in November 2020, giving Intel-compiled apps a bridge to run on M-series Macs without modification. That bridge has been open for over five years, and Apple is now formally counting it down.

What This Means for Mac Users in India and the US

The warning system gives users over a year to find native Apple Silicon alternatives for any Intel-compiled apps they depend on. Developers, who have had five years to update their apps, have roughly 18 months to complete any remaining transitions.

Businesses, schools, and creative studios running legacy accounting tools, audio plugins, or niche industry software on Intel binaries face the clearest risk. If an app’s developer has not shipped an Apple Silicon build and is no longer actively maintaining the product, that software’s end date is now set in macOS 28.

Intel Macs that stop receiving macOS upgrades after Tahoe 26 will continue to receive security updates for three years [to5Mac]. Users in India running regional software or older enterprise tools that depend on Intel compilations should audit their app libraries now.

Where Is the Gemini-Powered Siri Apple Promised?

macOS 26.4 launched in beta without the upgraded Siri features that Apple and Google announced in January 2026. Apple confirmed a partnership with Google to bring Gemini AI capabilities to Siri. The features were originally targeted at iOS 26.4, planned for a March 2026 release.

According to Bloomberg reporting from February 10, 2026, Apple ran into internal testing problems that pushed the timeline back. Siri sometimes does not properly process queries and can take too long to respond during internal testing. In some cases during testing, Siri fell back on ChatGPT instead of Gemini.

The upgraded Siri features may now arrive in iOS 26.5, planned for May 2026, or in iOS 27, launching in September 2026. The capability that would let Siri search through old messages, emails, and files to answer contextual questions is among the features whose arrival date remains unconfirmed.

macOS 26.4 Beta 2: Stability Over New Additions

Beta 2 carries build number 25E5218f and was seeded to developers on February 23, 2026. Apple has not published formal release notes for this second build. Second betas in Apple’s development cycle typically focus on resolving bugs surfaced during Beta 1 testing rather than introducing new capabilities.

Developer and public beta access is available through Apple’s free beta program at beta.apple.com. To install, navigate to System Settings, then General, then Software Update, and toggle on the beta track.

Compatibility

macOS Tahoe 26 runs on:

• MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon (2020 and later) and MacBook Pro 16-inch (2019) and MacBook Pro 13-inch (2020, four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• MacBook Air with Apple Silicon (2020 and later)
• iMac (2020 and later), Mac mini (2020 and later), Mac Studio (2022 and later), Mac Pro (2019 and later)

What macOS 26.4 Fits Into: The Larger Tahoe Picture

macOS Tahoe 26 launched on September 15, 2025 as the most significant design overhaul in years, introducing the Liquid Glass interface with transparent, refractive UI elements across menus, sidebars, and toolbars. It also brought a native Phone app, a Spotlight clipboard manager with automation features, desktop widgets, and live translation support for Messages, FaceTime, and Phone calls.

Previous point releases added incrementally. macOS 26.1 brought tinted Liquid Glass options and improved FaceTime audio. macOS 26.2 delivered Edge Light for video calls and Live Translation. macOS 26.4 is the first point release this cycle that delivers a meaningful user-facing feature payload alongside stability work.

Limitations and Considerations

macOS 26.4 does not deliver on Apple’s headline 2026 promise: a rebuilt, Gemini-powered Siri. Users who upgraded to macOS Tahoe with that feature as the primary motivation will wait at least another release cycle. The Charge Limit feature, while useful, mirrors what third-party tools have offered for years. For Intel Mac users, the Rosetta warnings introduce a firm countdown clock that may accelerate hardware investment decisions.

Testing for this article was conducted on a MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon running macOS Tahoe 26.4 Beta 2 (build 25E5218f). Testing covered the Charge Limit setting behavior in System Settings, Safari compact tab bar activation, and Rosetta 2 warning popups across Intel-compiled applications.

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