The macOS 27.3 developer beta is packed with important features. Safari gets vertical tabs and adaptive dark mode, Siri AI gains new skills, and developers get a bunch of new tools. There’s another change that hasn’t gotten much attention, although it’s probably the one I’ll be using the most.
Quick Look now supports Markdown. Since I write all of my text in Markdown, being able to see a properly formatted preview by tapping the space bar will make my life a lot easier.
What is Markdown?
If you’ve never heard of it, Markdown is a simple text formatting language John Gruber introduced in 2004. It allows you to add headings, bold text, lists and links with a few simple characters and convert your plain text into clean HTML.
Nowadays, you can find Markdown everywhere, from software documentation to blogs and online publications. AI agents have given it another use, as many rely on .md files to retain their instructions and context.
What changes in Quick Look?
Previously, Quick Look displayed .md files as raw text, including hashtags and asterisks. Starting with macOS 27.3 Beta 1, Quick Look renders these files with the correct formatting so you can see the finished result without having to open a separate app.
Apple has introduced Markdown across all of its platforms. Apple Notes can already import and export Markdown files, and as Federico Viticci pointed out, Siri AI’s new App Skills feature uses Markdown-based SKILL.md files to help Siri handle complex tasks in apps.
I’m happy to accept this improvement. Being able to check the formatting of a draft without launching another app is exactly the small change I appreciate.
