macOS Monterey Public Beta goes Live: New Features, Eligible Devices and How to Download

Apple has released the macOS Monterey public beta update for eligible users. Earlier this year, the new macOS 12 update was announced alongwith iOS 15, iPadOS 15 at WWDC 2021. Apple is expected to release macOS Monterey in September or October. In the meantime, those who wish to install the public beta version can do so by registering for the Apple Beta Software Program.

macOS Monterey comes with a ton of new features. The best feature announced at WWDC 2021 is that Universal Control allows users to work with a single mouse and keyboard and move between Mac and iPad. Users can even drag and drop content from one device to another. This could be useful for drawing a drawing on an iPad and placing it on a Keynote slide on the Mac.

Eligible Devices for Macos Monterey Upgrade

Before proceeding, if you want to test macOS Monterey, you will need to make sure that the Mac PC you are using is one of the following:

• MacBook Air: Early 2015 and later
• MacBook Pro: Early 2015 and later
• iMac: Late 2015 and later
• MacBook: Early 2016 and later
• iMac Pro: 2017 and later
• Mac mini: Late 2014 and later
• Mac Pro: Late 2013 and later

If you don't know exactly what year your Mac is made of, you can confirm the same by clicking the main Apple icon on the taskbar and then "About this Mac." The information will appear in the first tab, "Overview", below the name of the software and the version number that your PC is already running.

New Key Features of macOS Monterey

macOS Monterey will bring several exciting new features, representing both functional and design revisions to how the operating system worked before. Some of the fundamental changes are as follows:

• Review of the message application with the "Shared with you" function that integrates an organized view of web links (via Safari), music, news, photos and more.
• A new FaceTime experience, with support for spatial audio, background blur (with portrait mode), microphone noise isolation and broad-spectrum (i.e. anti-isolation), grid view, links to join calls on any platform, SharePlay to sync streaming music and video with calling participants and more.
• A feature-rich "Quick Note" experience.
• A new-looking Safari with a colour-matching tab bar, new-looking tabs, a menu of new features, privacy protections, and more.
• Shortcuts, a new automation feature that will help you put many of the most used functions in automatic programming mode within the operating system.
• Universal control, allowing the seamless use of an iPad via the Mac trackpad.

For details of everything new in macOS Monterey, click here.

How to Download macOS Monterey

• Users should log in with their Apple ID and select macOS from the list of programs. They can then register their Mac for beta testing through the Getting Started section.
  
• Users will have the option to download the macOS Public Beta Access Utility. Once downloaded, they can open the file and follow the instructions to install the utility. A software update would be visible through the update tool in System Preferences.
• Users can proceed to download and install this beta update. To complete the installation, they will need to restart their device, after which the macOS Monterey public beta will run on their devices.
• Like watchOS 8, all macOS Monterey features may not be immediately available. Regarding the compatibility of the operating system on your system, see the list of supported devices below.