Tell HN: macOS 26 is making me have regrets for the first time in 12yrs

#1

Post by trumbitta2 » Mon, Oct 27, 2025, 9:20 AM UTC

Sorry, I'm basically venting, but I'm sincerely curious to know what you think of this.

In 1998 (97?) I installed Debian 2.0 for the first time, and I had been a Linux user, both at work and for personal purposes, up until 2013. I was so fed up (because I was older) with the hardware issues (external monitors, graphics, drivers) that I switched to Mac and never looked back.

Up until now. I dislike the UI, and I'm frustrated by having to wait 15 seconds every time I want to unlock the system after a break. It's starting to feel like old-time Linux all over again.

Re: Tell HN: macOS 26 is making me have regrets for the first time in 12yrs

#2

Post by selectnull » Mon, Oct 27, 2025, 9:57 AM UTC

As someone who hasn't upgraded yet, what is causing the 15s wait after a locked system? That sounds terrible.

Re: Tell HN: macOS 26 is making me have regrets for the first time in 12yrs

#3

Post by trumbitta2 » Mon, Oct 27, 2025, 10:26 AM UTC

selectnull wrote: post #2

As someone who hasn't upgraded yet, what is causing the 15s wait after a locked system? That sounds terrible.

I wish I knew!

Re: Tell HN: macOS 26 is making me have regrets for the first time in 12yrs

#4

Post by dc396 » Mon, Oct 27, 2025, 12:32 PM UTC

Never experienced the 15 second wait for an unlock myself -- sounds like something has to time out for you before unlocking, e.g., some network thing.

As for the UI, meh -- I suppose it's personal taste. I could take it or leave it, but I wish they'd focus on substance over form, i.e., addressing bugs and fixing functionality (e.g., Mail's search remains useless, particularly compared to something like infoclick) instead of gratuitous appearance changes that no one asks for.

But form over substance seems the norm in our industry (see e.g., Windows 11)

Re: Tell HN: macOS 26 is making me have regrets for the first time in 12yrs

#5

Post by NeuroCoder » Tue, Oct 28, 2025, 1:58 AM UTC

I've noticed some things running slower too, but I wasn't sure if my computer was getting older. As for the interface/asthetic, it's pretty terrible in every regard.

Re: Tell HN: macOS 26 is making me have regrets for the first time in 12yrs

#6

Post by al_borland » Tue, Oct 28, 2025, 4:24 AM UTC

Big changes have always been a little rocky. Over time I expect they will refine it and work out the bugs. We’ve been through this before, and every OS goes through things like this from time to time.

Re: Tell HN: macOS 26 is making me have regrets for the first time in 12yrs

#7

Post by bfkwlfkjf » Tue, Oct 28, 2025, 8:03 AM UTC

Those who exchange freedom for convenience deserve neither.

Re: Tell HN: macOS 26 is making me have regrets for the first time in 12yrs

#8

Post by boars_tiffs » Tue, Oct 28, 2025, 8:41 AM UTC

trumbitta2 wrote: post #3

selectnull wrote: post #2

As someone who hasn't upgraded yet, what is causing the 15s wait after a locked system? That sounds terrible.

I wish I knew!

not ideal but: try a clean install

Re: Tell HN: macOS 26 is making me have regrets for the first time in 12yrs

#9

Post by qsort » Tue, Oct 28, 2025, 8:51 AM UTC

It's not a great release and there are indeed a few bugs, but it's kind of okay. There's a lot of good stuff like container support!

I don't know, but it seems to me like people are overreacting? Do y'all really care that much about how the desktop looks? It doesn't seem that different to me if I'm being honest. That's probably why they don't let me do frontend...

Re: Tell HN: macOS 26 is making me have regrets for the first time in 12yrs

#10

Post by Someone » Tue, Oct 28, 2025, 9:08 AM UTC

boars_tiffs wrote: post #8

trumbitta2 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I knew!

not ideal but: try a clean install

Way before that:

- check the logs. There may be an obvious hint there as to the cause

- quit all programs, menu bar items, launchd scripts, etc, and check whether the problem persists

- create a new user and see if that user has the problem, too