macOS Tahoe performance issues resolved in macOS 26.5?

Thejazzoid wrote:

I have delayed upgrading to macOS Tahoe because I have heard so many complaints about it. A friend of mind said things run more slowly on his iPhone after upgrading.

Yes, of course. New versions come with new features. Those new features always come at a cost. You haven't said anything about your computer, so there's no way anyone could definitively say if your computer is one that is fast enough to overcome the extra processing requirements.

And going beyond that, there's no way to tell if you, personally, will like the visual changes in the new version.

Now that they have macOS 26.5 I'm wondering whether Apple has addressed these problems sufficiently that it's now safe to upgrade.

You mean 26.5.0?

Usually bugs and other problems are addressed in the smaller upgrades.

It hasn't worked that way for a long time. End users have clearly demonstrated that they are addicted to updates and aren't able to control themselves. So Apple gives them what they demand, which is new bugs. But it's never enough. People always need another "fix", don't they?

You specifically asked about performance. Why?

Review the new features in Tahoe. Then review the common complaints. You'll have to decide for yourself whether the benefits seem to outweigh the costs. If you have a newer, Apple Silicon computer with more than the minimum specs for RAM and storage, then the performance hit might be acceptable and/or not noticeable. But if you still have an Intel computer, or if you had tried to save some money on your Apple Silicon computer, then it might be better to leave well enough alone.

macOS Tahoe only runs on Macs.

iPads run iPadOS, and iPhone run iOS.

Tens of thousands of users upgraded to Tahoe. Some had issues, generally due to software they should not have installed in the first place (apps that purport to 'clean' and/or 'protect').

Personally, I have has no significant issues on Tahoe from day one, on multiple Macs.

Regardless, there will not be many more 26.x updates since we are getting close to WWDC and Apple's efforts will be focused on macOS 27.

No reason not to upgrade now. As always, have a current Time Machine backup before upgrading.

Thejazzoid wrote:

I have delayed upgrading to macOS Tahoe because I have heard so many complaints about it. A friend of mind said things run more slowly on his iPhone after upgrading. Now that they have macOS 26.5 I'm wondering whether Apple has addressed these problems sufficiently that it's now safe to upgrade. Usually bugs and other problems are addressed in the smaller upgrades.

I notice no change in the 26.5.....so I would say you are safe to go.

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

You heard so many complaints because people who are trouble free don’t report so on forums like this. There are now around 2.5 billion Apple products in use around the world. Even if you read a thousand complaints that doesn’t even register as a problem on the trouble meter. Many of those complaints are based on user education or user error. Yes, there are always bugs to be dealt with but not showstoppers. I have a M1 Studio Max and a brand new M5 MacBook Air. Both are running fast as blazes on macOS 26.5.

Apple didn’t become a $4 Trillion dollar company by selling defective software that slows its products down.

p.s. Take a look at the section for your current macOS. If it’s running fine for you then why are there still gobs of questions and complaints about it years after its release?

Thejazzoid wrote:

I have delayed upgrading to macOS Tahoe because I have heard so many complaints about it. A friend of mind said things run more slowly on his iPhone after upgrading. Now that they have macOS 26.5 I'm wondering whether Apple has addressed these problems sufficiently that it's now safe to upgrade. Usually bugs and other problems are addressed in the smaller upgrades.

You can add me to the list of folks who have experienced no performance hit with Tahoe 26 since day 1.

Not sure why you might infer from your friend's iPhone experience (?) that Tahoe has a problem.

FWIW, I've used Tahoe since the first beta release in June of last year. I haven't noticed any performance hit on my M1 MBA or M3 iMac.