With macOS Monterey, Apple announced a major redesign to the Safari browser, with a new tab design, tab groups, redesigned sidebar and more. It will be available later this year, but it is possible to try out the updates to Safari without updating your Mac to the macOS Monterey beta.
Apple tests new features and improvements to the browser with the Safari Technology Preview, with version 126 released last week containing support for the new design and features announced at WWDC 2021.
If you’re running macOS Big Sur, you can download the Technology Preview, which will run alongside the stable version of Safari. It’s possible to uninstall it if you’re running into issues, especially as this version is a preview, and won’t be available to all users on macOS Big Sur until this fall.
Head over to the Safari Downloads page to download the “Safari Technology Preview for macOS Big Sur“. You’ll first notice the new tab bar, which takes up less space by merging the tabs with the address bar. Clicking on another tab will adjust the position of the address bar, although notably, a refresh button is missing.
The sidebar has also been redesigned and is basic (with no vertical tabs like Microsoft Edge), but introduces Tab Groups, which will sync across Safari on iPhone, iPad and other Mac devices.
The update is the largest to Safari in years, but has signifcant design flaws with the number of tabs and features available at the press of a single icon. It’s likely that Apple will address concerns with future betas of macOS Monterey and later releases of Safari Technical Preview for macOS Big Sur.
