A shortcut that changes the Mac workflow
Until macOS Tahoe, Visual Intelligence was mainly tied to the iPhone's camera and, in limited form, to the Mac's search bar. With macOS Golden Gate 27, Apple introduces a dedicated keyboard shortcut that works similarly to the screenshot command: users select any portion of their screen and receive contextual answers about the selected area, as reported by 9to5Mac and TechRadar during keynote coverage.
Direct actions and Siri continuity
The feature is not limited to passive identification. Apple demonstrated a scenario where Visual Intelligence reads an event-details screen and automatically adds multiple Calendar entries at once. From the Visual Intelligence interface, users can also open the conversation in the Siri app for deeper follow-up. This creates a direct link between machine vision and the conversational assistant, removing the need to copy, paste, or switch contexts.
Why it matters
On iPhone, Visual Intelligence was already integrated into the Camera app and the Action button; on Mac, however, a fast entry point was missing. The keyboard shortcut fills that gap and makes the feature viable in everyday work, not just demo scenarios. Access across the full screen — not just images — is the step that was needed to make Visual Intelligence a genuinely cross-platform tool in the Apple ecosystem.