Apple Podcasts on Mac has never been able to play video podcasts. But that changes this fall, and the way it works might actually pull you away from YouTube for good.
That has always felt a little strange considering Apple helped popularize podcasting and has supported video podcasts on other platforms for years.
If you wanted to watch a podcast episode on your Mac, you often ended up opening YouTube or a web browser instead.
With macOS 27 Golden Gate, that’s finally changing. Apple is adding native support for video podcasts in the Mac app, allowing users to watch episodes without leaving Podcasts.
The update also includes Picture-in-Picture support, which is probably the feature I’ll use most. Being able to keep a podcast playing in a floating window while working through email, writing, or browsing the web is a far better fit for how many people use a Mac throughout the day.
Apple is also bringing transcripts, chapter markers, and timed links to video episodes. Those additions may not sound particularly exciting, but they make it easier to jump around long interviews or revisit specific moments without scrubbing through hours of content.
The improvements extend beyond the Mac. Apple is redesigning the Podcasts experience on Apple TV with a new interface that puts greater emphasis on video content.
For people who regularly watch long-form interviews or panel discussions, the platform should feel more useful than it has in the past.
There’s another addition that might prove just as valuable: search within a show. For the first time, users will be able to search a podcast’s episode catalog directly, rather than scrolling through years of archived episodes.
Anyone who follows a long-running show knows how frustrating that process can be today. The same search tool also works at podcasts.apple.com on the web. So even without an Apple device in hand, the functionality carries over.
Look for these updates to roll out this fall across Apple’s entire ecosystem, including iOS 27, iPadOS 27, visionOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate, and tvOS 27.
