Volume indicator missing in macOS 27 Golden Gate

The volume indicator in macOS 27 Golden Gate is essentially the same as the one in macOS 26 Tahoe (the new one is a little more 'shiny' in keeping with the overall UI changes). It shows up at the top right, under the Sound item in the menu bar (or in the upper right corner under the clock if the Sound icon is not shown).

Tahoe:

Golden Gate:

Note that both differ from the volume indicator in macOS 15 Sequoia, which was at the lower center of the display.

If you are not seeing the notification, then Have you rebooted your Mac? If not, that's the first step. If that does not help, then see if the problem is present when you boot in safe mode. That process performs some system cleanup and clears caches, and also disables 3rd party extensions that may cause problems.

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

If that does not correct the issue, test in a new user account. A newly-created user account will have all settings at default, and if the issue does not occur in that new account then it provides guidance on what may need to be changed to correct the issue.

Add a user or group on Mac - Apple Support

Once the testing is complete, the new account can easily be deleted.

Delete a user or group on Mac – Apple Support

Those steps will help to isolate the problem.

Given that it appears unchanged, it does not appear to be a bug. However, bugs can be reported as @Allan Jones stated.

kathylong wrote:

I don't know if this is the problem you're seeing, but what I lost with the upgrade to Golden Gate is the transparent notification or whatever they call it that comes up in the middle of your monitor when trying to turn on or off sound or adjust volume. I now have no idea what effect, if any, the keystrokes are having on my sound volume. I reported it as a bug.

Beginning with macOS 26.x Tahoe and continuing with macOS 27 Golden Gate......Apple moved the volume & brightness onscreen display to the upper right corner of the screen. I know with Tahoe that it can be difficult to see as it also tends to be faint. It is hard to train myself to look to the upper right corner when adjusting the volume & brightness. Part of me likes the relocation, but another part of me dislikes it. I still haven't decided which I actually prefer (an actual choice would be nicest, but that will never happen).

Take a look at the screenshot provided by @neuroanatomist to see the visual reference is located just beneath the menubar at the upper right.

Apple will not see bug reports in these user-to-user forums. Instead, please use this:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

I don't know if this is the problem you're seeing, but what I lost with the upgrade to Golden Gate is the transparent notification or whatever they call it that comes up in the middle of your monitor when trying to turn on or off sound or adjust volume. I now have no idea what effect, if any, the keystrokes are having on my sound volume. I reported it as a bug.