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Ian Leckie
User level: Level 4 (2,351 points)

M4 Mac mini Dock transparency stuck after macOS Golden Gate 27.0.1

I updated to macOS Golden Gate 27.0.1 on my M4 Mac mini. As far as I can tell the liquid glass slider has no effect on anything except the control center. Worse, for some reason the Dock is now stuck on full transparency. Wiggling the slider back and forth does nothing for the Dock. Does anyone know what I could do? I've done the usual: restart, start in Safe Mode, killall Dock in Terminal, feedback to Apple etc. I like Liquid Glass, just want to tone it down a bit on the Dock! Thanks for any help offered...

Posted on Sep 30, 2026 9:20 AM

2 replies

neuroanatomist
User level: Level 9 (72,871 points)

Sep 30, 2026 11:06 AM in response to Ian Leckie

The Liquid Glass setting does not affect the transparency of the Dock on macOS 27.0.1. That setting certainly has an effect on other parts of the UI, not just the Control Center. For example, here is the title bar of a window and you can see the effect on the app icons that show through very slightly or somewhat based on the setting (yes, the effect is subtle).




To reduce the transparency of the Dock, do the following:

  • Open System Settings
  • Click on Accessibility
  • Click on Display
  • Turn on the setting to Reduce Transparency



Note that the setting affects the entire UI, not just the Dock.


More info from Apple: Change Display settings for accessibility on Mac - Apple Support


With Reduce Transparency on, the Dock will not have a transparent background, but the background will still respect the setting in Light/Dark System Settings > Appearance.


Dark Appearance, Reduce Transparency OFF


Dark Appearance, Reduce Transparency ON


Light Appearance, Reduce Transparency OFF


Light Appearance, Reduce Transparency ON


Only Apple can add a specific control for the effect of Liquid Glass on the Dock. To have Apple consider your feedback, submit it here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

 


Ian Leckie Author
User level: Level 4 (2,351 points)

Oct 1, 2026 2:16 AM in response to neuroanatomist

Thanks for replying! It's strange, imho, that the Dock transparency can't be changed by the slider, but that seems to be Apple's way. I can live with it, and am just glad that I have no other issues with Golden Gate! And yes, the other transparency effects are very subtle, too subtle for my older eyes! FWIW, I've sent Apple feedback...

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256367945