On November 3, 2026, Apple released the Safari 27.3 beta (build 20626.1.12) for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro, and it adds a feature Safari fans have requested for years: vertical tabs. According to Apple’s Safari 27.3 Beta Release Notes (retrieved November 4, 2026), your open tabs can now sit in a sidebar instead of running across the top of the window.
Current reporting, including tbreak, describes vertical tabs as available across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Macworld specifically calls out the iPhone Duo, noting that its larger display makes the sidebar layout especially suitable. Apple’s own release notes list supported operating systems but don’t break down compatibility by individual hardware model.
The short answer to the big question is yes, Safari vertical tabs are real. As of November 4, 2026, the feature is in Apple’s developer beta, and Macworld reports it’s also headed to public beta testers soon.
Apple hasn’t committed to a firm public release date. Macworld reports an expected early-December rollout for non-beta users, but that’s the outlet’s estimate rather than an Apple promise. Microsoft Edge offered vertical tabs well before Safari, and browsers like Arc helped popularize the layout.
Safari Vertical Tabs: What Happened
Most coverage mixes Apple’s confirmed facts with press reporting and guesswork. We’ve split them into three groups so you know which is which.
What Apple has confirmed
The following details come straight from Apple’s Safari 27.3 Beta Release Notes:
- Release: Safari 27.3 beta
- Build: 20626.1.12
- Date: November 3, 2026
- Platforms listed: iOS 27.3 beta, iPadOS 27.3 beta, visionOS 27.3 beta, and macOS 27.3 beta
We couldn’t independently confirm every platform entry beyond what’s quoted directly from Apple’s release notes page.
The most important word in that list is “beta.” Apple’s consumer-facing help pages don’t mention vertical tabs yet. As of November 4, 2026, the Safari for Mac Tabs settings page still lists only two tab layouts:
- Separate: Tabs appear in their own bar below the toolbar.
- Compact: Tabs move up into the toolbar.
Apple’s iOS 27 iPhone User Guide still describes only the Compact, Bottom, and Top layouts for Safari on iPhone. So for anyone running a public (non-beta) release, nothing has changed yet.
What the press is reporting
The best description of the feature itself comes from Macworld, which called it a “surprise 27.3 feature drop.” Based on Macworld’s reporting:
- Tabs move into a vertical sidebar along the left edge of the Safari window.
- Tabs appear as compact icons by default to save space.
- You can widen the sidebar to see the full page title for each tab.
Digital Trends and tbreak both report that vertical tabs work with Safari’s existing Tab Groups rather than replacing them; Apple’s release notes we quoted don’t address it. Tab Groups let you bundle related tabs, like “Work” or “Vacation Planning,” and switch between them.
So Tab Group users shouldn’t lose anything with the new layout. Both outlets also say you can turn vertical tabs on in Safari’s settings or from the View menu on Mac and iPad. Yahoo Tech has covered the change too.
We haven’t used the beta ourselves, so every description of the vertical tabs interface here comes from the reporting above.
What’s still unknown
- Public release date. Apple hasn’t committed to one. Macworld reports an expected early-December release for non-beta users, but that’s the outlet’s estimate, not a confirmed Apple date.
- Device requirements. Apple’s release notes list supported operating systems but don’t enumerate individual iPhone, iPad, or Mac hardware models; that level of detail isn’t in Apple’s public documentation yet.
- iPhone hardware specifics. tbreak reports the iPhone option sits under Settings > Apps > Safari > Vertical Tabs, and Macworld highlights the iPhone Duo’s larger display, but Apple hasn’t listed which iPhone models get the sidebar.
- Delivery on older Macs. Some release-note mentions reference macOS versions beyond the current 27.3 beta, but our sources don’t explain how the Safari beta reaches those versions.
- Final design. Beta features often change before release, and sometimes they get pulled entirely.
Who This Affects
Right now, only people running Apple’s developer betas can try vertical tabs. Here’s how that breaks down by device.
On your Mac
Apple’s release notes list macOS 27.3 beta as a platform for Safari 27.3, among other macOS version references we couldn’t fully verify. A sidebar layout makes sense on Mac. On a wide screen, especially an ultrawide monitor or a large external display, there’s usually empty space on the left and right edges of web pages. A sidebar uses that space instead of eating into the page’s height.
If you currently use the Always show website titles in tabs setting on Mac, you already know how hard icon-only tabs can be to tell apart. The expandable sidebar Macworld describes may help with that. Apple hasn’t said whether the two features are connected.
On your iPhone and iPad
iOS 27.3 beta and iPadOS 27.3 beta both appear in Apple’s release notes. An iPad’s larger screen seems like a natural fit for a sidebar.
For iPhone, tbreak reports that vertical tabs are available through Settings > Apps > Safari > Vertical Tabs. Macworld specifically highlights the iPhone Duo, noting that its larger display makes the sidebar layout especially suitable.
Apple’s release notes don’t break out support by individual iPhone model, so treat device-level specifics as press-reported rather than Apple-confirmed until the iPhone User Guide is updated.
On Apple Vision Pro
visionOS 27.3 beta is also listed. Our sources don’t describe how vertical tabs look or behave in visionOS.
How It Stacks Up
Edge has offered vertical tabs for years, and now Safari is adding them. Here’s where things stand, based on our sources:
| Browser | Vertical tabs status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Safari (current public release) | Not available. Mac offers Separate and Compact layouts. iPhone offers Compact, Bottom, and Top. | Apple Support (Mac), iPhone User Guide |
| Safari 27.3 beta | Available in developer beta (build 20626.1.12, November 3, 2026) | Apple release notes |
| Microsoft Edge | Offers vertical tabs as a built-in feature | Microsoft Edge |
| Google Chrome | Not verified | Our Safari 27.3 sources don’t cover Chrome |
| Google Pixel / Samsung Galaxy browsers | Not verified | No source available |
A few honest notes about this comparison.
Edge is the closest match. If you’re switching from a Windows PC, Edge’s vertical tabs are probably what you’re picturing. Based on Macworld’s description, Safari’s layout shares the basic idea: a left-side list you can expand to see titles.
There’s no “better or worse” verdict yet. We found no rigorous benchmarks or fair side-by-side tests of Safari’s vertical tabs against Edge’s. Early coverage describes the feature but doesn’t test it head to head, so claims that Safari’s version is faster or more polished are premature. The feature is days old and still in beta.
We couldn’t verify Android equivalents. None of our sources cover vertical tabs on Pixel or Galaxy phone browsers, so we’re not making claims about them.
Compared with Apple’s previous version, this is the biggest change to Safari tab layout options in years. Separate and Compact on Mac both keep tabs horizontal. The beta adds a vertical option for the first time.
The Reaction
Reaction is still forming. Coverage so far reads as relief that a long-requested feature has arrived, tempered by the usual caution about running beta software on a main device. We didn’t find a Hacker News discussion of the beta or social posts with verifiable links we can cite.
Our Take
Did Apple do it better, later, or worse? Later, for sure. Better or worse, we can’t say yet.
There’s no way around it. Edge had vertical tabs long before Safari, and Arc made the layout fashionable. Is Apple copying them? Apple is adopting an idea that other browsers proved popular. That’s not a bad thing. Safari users have asked for this, and an Apple browser that’s familiar to Edge switchers makes moving to a Mac a little easier.
The design Macworld describes, with icons by default and a sidebar you can widen for titles, sounds like a sensible take on a proven idea.
Reporting says vertical tabs work alongside Tab Groups, which matters for anyone who already relies on them. Without fair comparative testing, we won’t call vertical tabs better or worse than Edge’s.
Should you upgrade? For most people, no. Wait for the public release. Vertical tabs are a nice-to-have, not a reason to put beta software on the iPhone or Mac you rely on every day. Betas can have bugs, drain battery faster, and break apps.
If you have a spare Mac or iPad and you’re comfortable with that risk, the beta is a fine way to try it early. Going back to a public release later can mean erasing the device and restoring from a backup made before you installed the beta, which is why that backup matters.
What To Do Next
The one practical step: decide whether you’ll wait or test on a spare device. If you’ll wait, you don’t need to do anything. When vertical tabs reach the public release, they should appear through a normal software update. If you want to try the beta now, here’s the path, based on the update steps in our research.
On your Mac
- Back up your Mac first. A Time Machine backup to an external SSD is the simplest safety net if the beta gives you trouble.
- Sign in to Apple’s beta software program with an eligible Apple Account (developer betas require Apple Developer enrollment; the public beta, once it arrives, does not).
- Check for the update through your Mac’s standard software-update process, typically under System Settings > General > Software Update. Apple’s beta documentation doesn’t spell out every step, so screens may vary.
- Turn on vertical tabs in Safari’s Settings or from Safari’s View menu, per Digital Trends and tbreak. Labels may change between beta builds.
On your iPhone or iPad
- Back up your device to iCloud or your computer.
- Sign in to Apple’s beta software program with an eligible Apple Account to get iOS 27.3 or iPadOS 27.3 beta.
- Check for the update through your device’s standard software-update process, typically under Settings > General > Software Update.
- On iPhone, check Settings > Apps > Safari > Vertical Tabs, per tbreak. On iPad, you can also use Safari’s View menu.
If you’d rather keep things simple, there’s an easy middle ground. Safari’s existing Tab Groups and the Mac’s Always show website titles in tabs setting can already help tame a messy tab bar.
Wrapping Up
Safari vertical tabs are real and confirmed in Apple’s own release notes. As of November 4, 2026, they’re available in developer beta, with Macworld reporting they’re also headed to public beta testers soon.
Apple hasn’t committed to a public release date, though Macworld’s reporting points to an expected early-December rollout for non-beta users. Apple also hasn’t listed device requirements. Edge got there first, and nobody has published a fair comparison yet.
Our honest take: this is a welcome catch-up, not a revolution. Unless you have a spare device to test on, wait for the public release of iOS 27.3 and macOS 27.3.