In this brief tutorial, we show you how to draw and sketch right in the Apple Notes app on your Mac running macOS 27 Golden Gate, without having to rely on your iPhone, iPad, or external touchscreen devices.
The incredible Continuity feature has allowed Mac users to sketch in the Notes app by opening a virtual drawing board on their iPhone or iPad. However, it relied on the user having at least one iOS device linked to the same Apple Account as their Mac. Secondly, the temporary virtual board on the iPhone and iPad is handy for casual use, but it’s not ideal for prolonged sketching or sessions that require breaks.
macOS 27 fixes all that by adding a native drawing tool to the Notes app.
While seemingly an innocent feature, this also hints at the upcoming MacBook (maybe called MacBook Ultra) with a touchscreen (fingers crossed till late 2026 or early 2027).
Draw and sketch in the macOS 27 Notes app
1) Update your Mac to macOS 27 by enabling beta updates in System Settings > General > Software Update or by using a bootable USB installer. You can also install macOS Golden Gate on a second partition of the same Mac.
2) Open the Notes app and create a new note or go inside an existing one. You can also work in a note that already has normal typed text.
3) Click the Markup icon, as shown in the screenshot below.
You have the following tools at your disposal. If you have used Markup on iPhone, it will feel right at home.
Selection tool: Lets you select your drawing and then change the size, move it around, etc.
Drawing tools: You can use Pen, Monoline, Marker, Pencil, Crayon, Fountain Pen, Reed, and Watercolor tools. After selecting one, don’t forget to further select that tool’s style (like brush thickness). There is also an Eraser option to remove errors and fix them.
Color picker: Click the small dot to pick a different color. You can also change the color afterward by using the selection tool to select an existing drawing, then change its color.
Shapes: Click the circle-square icon and select from line, arrow, square, square with rounded corners, circle, speech box, star, and a hexagon.
Text: Click the A icon to add text.
Signature: Add an existing signature or create a new one and add it.
Once you’re done sketching, click the Markup icon again to exit drawing mode.
Of course, like all other notes, these too sync via iCloud and appear on your other devices. And you can edit a sketch started on your Mac on your iPhone or iPad.
One weird thing I noticed is that if you use a tool for a long time without a break (like dragging the pen tool around for a while without lifting your finger from the trackpad), the entire sketch for that session disappears. Sometimes, making another small sketch and then pressing Command + Z seems to bring back the disappeared sketch. Other times, this trick doesn’t work. I assume this is a bug in the initial version of macOS 27 developer beta, which will be polished soon.
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