When it comes to iOS 26, Liquid Glass and legibility have been the subject of much discussion around the iPhone software redesign. On the Mac, however, app icon decisions have stirred up a lot of feelings for macOS Tahoe users. One change in particular arguably makes the Mac harder to use.
From Finder to Macintosh HD
It started with the app permanently fixed to the first position on the Dock: Finder. Apple threw decades of precedent out of the window in macOS 26 beta 1 when it flipped the usual color order on the blue and white Finder face(s) icon. That was soon remedied with the second developer beta.
More recently, it’s the lesser viewed Macintosh HD icon change that has caused a commotion. In macOS 26 developer beta 5, Apple discontinued the legacy icon that depicted a classic spinning platter hard disk drive in great detail.
While it was an attractive icon on its own, the metaphor broke down long ago when Apple shifted to solid state drives. By that logic, though, perhaps it’s as illogical to use a classic telephone glyph for the Phone icon, but let’s not overthink this one.
For greater accuracy, Macintosh HD should probably read Mac SSD or Apple Drive since it’s not actually a hard disk drive. I wouldn’t vote in favor of modernizing the name, though, at the risk of losing the last official use of the Mac’s full title.
There are two actual complaints that are resonating with the new Macintosh HD icon.
First, Mac users are confused about why the drive has holes. The USB-C shaped hole makes some sense, but the three headphone jack-shaped holes are just decoration for the sake of detail. Of course, a more literal Mac disk icon would resemble a computer chip instead of what looks like a common Samsung external SSD — but with holes.
The other piece of feedback commonly shared is that the perspective of the drive icon isn’t consistent with the perspective of the Apple logo. The drive itself is tilted so you can see the top and front, but the Apple logo looks as if the drive was viewed from the top only.
Admittedly, my first reaction was “oh, neat, Apple should sell that as an external SSD,” but actually, no, Apple’s internal SSD upgrade prices are enough to dissuade me.
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