macOS Tahoe quietly retires the old Mac drive icon in favor of a sleeker, SSD-inspired design.
Tuesday’s developer beta release of macOS Tahoe 26 brought a bit of sad news. The old Macintosh HD icon is getting replaced.
The old icon depicted an actual hard drive — it was a metal box that boasted screws, vents, and even a warning sticker. Impressive, considering Apple canned the practice of using hard drives over a decade ago.
The new icon, spotted by 9to5Mac, is based on the modern depiction of a solid-state drive. Between its rounded edges and the undeniable, large Apple logo in the front, it really does set itself apart from the old one.
The new design not only fits Apple’s modern aesthetic but also feels more thematically appropriate. With any luck, it won’t spark the same kind of backlash as the Finder icon redesign did.