macOS 26.2 refreshes Apple Music’s MiniPlayer with Liquid Glass styling

Apple’s macOS 26.2 update brings a visual refresh to the Apple Music MiniPlayer, aligning it with the system’s newer “Liquid Glass” design language. The compact player now looks sleeker and more consistent with the rest of the OS UI, while keeping the same shortcut to toggle it: Alt + Command + M.

The MiniPlayer remains a lightweight way to control playback without opening the full Music app. With this update Apple focused on visual polish — rounded translucency, softened highlights and improved contrast — so the small control feels less obtrusive and more integrated with the desktop.

What changed

• Visual overhaul to match Liquid Glass aesthetics: more translucency and smoother surfaces.
• Same functionality and keyboard shortcut (Alt + ⌘ + M) for quick access to playback controls.
• Designed to be a subtle UI improvement rather than a feature overhaul — playback controls, progress bar and basic metadata remain intact.

If you’ve updated to macOS 26.2, try pressing Alt + Command + M to see the refreshed MiniPlayer. The change is part of Apple’s broader effort to unify the look and feel of macOS interfaces across apps.

For official details about the macOS update, check Apple’s release notes: macOS support. For regional coverage of the MiniPlayer redesign, see recent reports from Mac news sites.

Discussion: Do you prefer a sleeker MiniPlayer or more feature-rich compact controls? Would a customizable MiniPlayer (size, info shown) make it more useful to you?