macOS Golden Gate

Apple’s macOS Golden Gate (27) was released on September 14th, 2026, and includes a new version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, a Visual Intelligence feature that can answer questions about whatever is on your screen, automatic tab grouping in Safari, and the ability to create Shortcuts by describing what you want them to do. This is also the first version of macOS that only runs on Apple silicon. From a server perspective, administrators should find this release similar to macOS Tahoe.

macOS Golden Gate supports 2020 M1 model and newer Mac minis, all Mac Studio models, and the 2023 Mac Pro. Intel Macs are no longer supported, so the 2018 Mac mini will stay on macOS Sequoia and the 2019 Mac Pro will stay on macOS Tahoe. Some of the new Apple Intelligence features also require a newer chip and more memory than the base requirements, so check Apple’s system requirements if you plan on using those. Our supported macOS versions FAQ has the full list by model.

New orders can now be placed with macOS Golden Gate installed.

FileVault and automatic updates

After the upgrade is complete and you log in for the first time, macOS will walk you through a few setup screens. Two of them are worth paying attention to on a remote Mac.

The first is FileVault. Golden Gate will ask if you would like to turn on FileVault, and we recommend leaving it off. FileVault encrypts the entire drive, and after a reboot the Mac will not start networking until the password is entered locally, which means you will not be able to get back into your remote Mac until we enter the password for you. If you need to store data in an encrypted state, a separate encrypted partition or an encrypted external drive is the better option. Our FileVault FAQ has more information, along with instructions for regaining access if FileVault has already been enabled.

The second is automatic updates. macOS will also ask if you would like updates installed automatically. If you turn this on, your Mac will download and install macOS updates on its own and reboot when it needs to, usually overnight. This is fine as long as a reboot at a random time isn’t going to cause problems for you. If your Mac is running anything in production, we recommend leaving automatic updates off and installing updates yourself at a time that works for you, ideally during our hands-on support hours.

Upgrading your remote Mac

If you’re considering upgrading to macOS Golden Gate, there are some important things to keep in mind when upgrading your remote Mac:

• Make sure you have a current backup. Time Machine offers a convenient way to keep up-to-date backups. We don’t see many issues during upgrades, but it doesn’t hurt to be on the safe side. We have external drive rentals available for as little as $12/mo if you need a backup solution.
• The upgrade can be done remotely (in System Settings), however you will want to make sure you keep an eye on things as your mini may go to sleep after the upgrade is complete. If your mini goes to sleep, most likely you will need to contact support to power on your mini.
• Schedule the upgrade between 8AM and 5PM Central US time on a weekday for prompt and free hands-on support
• When starting the upgrade, leave the Screen Sharing window open even when it says Reconnecting, it will automatically reconnect when the upgrade is done.
• If this is a production machine, you may want to hold off on upgrading right away in case any bugs are discovered early on.
• The upgrade can take 30 to 90 minutes, depending on the specs of your machine.
• Do not remote reboot during the upgrade. This can cause data corruption or brick the machine.
• Don’t go anywhere during the upgrade, you may need to fix the following power settings immediately after the upgrade:
  • Under Energy, make sure Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off, Wake for network access, and Start up automatically after a power failure are all turned on (so that remote reboots continue to work)
  • Under Lock Screen, set Turn display off when inactive to Never
  • Schedule, make sure your mini is still configured to power on at a specific time. Recent versions of macOS no longer have the Schedule option in System Settings, the pmset command in our getting started guide takes care of this.

If you need any assistance during the upgrade or have any questions, feel free to open a support ticket.