New macOS Monterey Features: macOS Monterey has been rolled out and it comes with new features over macOS 11 Big Sur. It includes SharePlay, live text, redesigned apps, under-the-hood upgrades plus much more! One of the most exciting updates is the Universal control, which will be released soon.
While most of the features will work across macOS Monterey, some of the new macOS 12 features will be Sierra Mac exclusive. For those interested in certain new macOS12 features, this article is for you as we’re going to discuss everything you need to know about new updates.
New macOS Monterey Features
- FaceTime: SharePlay
- Messages
- Redesigned Safari
- Universal Control
- AirPlay To Mac
- Notes And Reminders
- Focus And Notifications
- System-wide Translation With Live Text
- Privacy Features On macOS Monterey
- Finder
- Find My
- New Mouse Pointer Colors
- Desktop And Screensaver
- Password Controls And Erase Data Button
- Photos
- Maps
1. FaceTime: SharePlay
Host, share and play your favorite music simultaneously with macOS Monterey. SharePlay is a new way for you to connect via FaceTime on macOS Monterey by sharing the music stored on your Mac computer. With this feature, you can collaborate with other people on video calls by watching them (live screen) or showing them your screen. You can also just choose to see their live camera feed.
Apple has created a new feature for this generation of iPhones called Smart Sound, which automatically adjusts the volume according to people speaking in order to make them louder and clearer. One can also avoid disturbing others around them by using Spatial Audio, which provides voice isolation so the person you’re speaking to only hears your voice and no one else’s. These exciting features can be used in combination with Apple’s upcoming update for macOS that will give users an even more immersive video calling and group streaming experience.
2. Messages
iMessage is one of the fastest messaging apps around. It’s fast, efficient, and secured with macOS Monterey. Now when you receive iMessages, it will also show you pins, conversations, photos, Safari links, podcasts, Apple TV shows, and music that has been shared with you.
If you get a link from someone in your circle, you can just tap the “Share with You” part to jump right into the post or conversation. It’s a handy feature that saves valuable time that would have been spent scrolling through all of your various updates to share something that valuable with someone else!
3. Redesigned Safari
Apple’s browser Safari has gotten more secure with time. It has received several facelifts recently, including one which drags in the power of macOS Monterey. Safari now incorporates tab groups, which means you can save a collection of tabs that you use commonly and then reopen them with just a few simple clicks!
The release of Safari for macOS Monterey brought a host of security enhancements. One of these features is tab groups, which allow you to keep track of sets of tabs that you use together. Once opened, tabs saved in a group are automatically selected and can be reopened with a simple command.
4. Universal Control
Although Apple introduced an M1 iPad Pro, it intends to keep a difference between Mac and iPad when it comes to functionality and pro apps. The universal control feature lets you use your Mac or iPad together. You can use 3 devices at once, controlled by one mouse and keyboard.
For instance, you could put an iPad, iPod Touch and Apple Watch side by side on a table. Then turn on AirDrop and tap the devices to each show that they are discoverable. Universal Control will be getting this functionality later this year.
5. AirPlay To Mac
If you’re a real music lover and seriously into the music, then having excellent speakers is a huge advantage. Apple products feature really high-quality sound, and they also provide impressive functionality that many other companies don’t offer.
The macOS Monterey feature allows a seamless connection to iOS devices. We call it the “wired wireless approach” because your Mac can connect wirelessly, but also work across a wired connection for lower latency.
6. Notes And Reminders
The default apps for macOS are some of the most versatile and full-featured programs you can enjoy on a Mac. Apple is doing something incredibly useful with its Notes and Reminders app updates – they’ve added tags to both apps. Now you can add a hashtag like #activity or #personal to notes and reminders and then use the tag browser in the sidebar of either notes or reminders app to find what you want easily!
Notes have been receiving a few new features, allowing users to invite other people into their notes for whatever reason. The app will also be receiving a collaboration feature, which allows you to comment on specific things specifically in the app. Last but not least, there is a new setting that lets you share your notes without an invitation if that is what you prefer.
The Reminders app on OS X Mavericks can now be customized and tailored to your liking. You can create as many as you want, and for more than one purpose. For example, you could have a reminder list for each of the tags you use. These reminder lists will automatically update with everything on those certain tags! Try it out and let us know how it goes – we’re excited to hear how well it works for everyone!
7. Focus And Notifications
Focus is a more customizable form of the Do Not Disturb feature. You can use specific filters to block out what you might have otherwise missed. This macOS Monterey feature is also available on iOS so when you save foci, they are synchronized across devices!
For example, you can easily turn off notifications from your iPhone. Or you can allow some applications to be pinged while you’re working on your Mac.
Let’s talk about the improvements in Notifications specifically. Notifications are more functional than ever before with contact photos and larger app icons. Additionally, users can temporarily mute conversations they’d rather skip for now if they’re not in the mood to address them at that particular moment.
8. System-wide Translation With Live Text
Apple introduced Live Text for their smartphone operating systems that are iOS 15 and now macOS Monterey. Live Text is an iOS enhancement that provides one with the ability to highlight text from pictures on their phone. Apple’s system-wide translation capabilities are now incorporated into the phone to help translate text from images on your iPhone or Mac, which means you can save them to use in other projects.
9. Privacy Features On macOS Monterey
Apple has seriously worked on privacy matters on the new macOS Monterey. This comes in conjunction with iOS 15 privacy features, including green dots for the camera and orange for mic recording indicators that users see while using the private relay, hide my email, and home kit secure video feature.
10. Finder
macOS Finder is the file browser that you can use to access and share various digital documents. macOS Monterey is an upgrade of Finder that comes with added shortcuts for improved efficiency and user-friendliness. For example, you’ll find new iCloud folders in the desktop and menu bar which you can use for shared documents between multiple team members.
The Finder Shortcuts feature gives users the ability to do simple tasks quickly and efficiently without having to go into any other program. This includes things like resizing images, editing PDF documents as well as basic formatting as seen in the image below.
11. Find My
Find My is now available as a widget in the Notifications Center. You can keep tabs on your personal gadgets nearby without having to launch the app each time. It costs $1.99 per month but may be worth it to keep track of important items that might otherwise get lost within your household.
12. New Mouse Pointer Colors
macOS Monterey now lets you change the color of your pointer on your Mac’s screen! This is an accessibility feature included in this latest Mac update. You can personalize the outline and fill color of the mouse pointer by accessing your computer’s Accessibility menu via System Preferences for macOS Monterey or newer on your Mac system.
13. Desktop And Screensaver
All of the macOS Monterey features come with some additional desktop images. The “Hello” desktop image comes in seven different colors that change automatically based on the time of the day.
The Hello screensaver was inspired by the original mac that debuted with “Hello” written on the screen in a number of different languages. I completely forgot what it is called.
14. Password Controls And Erase Data Button
The latest macOS features a convenient place from which to look up and manage passwords from system preferences. Not only does it provide you with access to these saved passwords, but it also offers the option you generate security codes for two-factor authentication.
15. Photos
Apple’s macOS Monterey software allows new updates on their Photos app, which gets some clean new updates with the addition of interactive “memories” and 12 new cinematography-inspired looks to add mood. People’s shared photos will now appear in the “Shared with you” sidebar on Apple’s Photos app for your convenience.
Apple has added a faster iCloud photo library “initial sync” that is very useful as it allows users to get their iCloud library on a new device faster while setting up. Also, Apple’s People Identification Program has been improved, which helps you understand the people in your photos better and do helpful things with their content.
16. Maps
Lastly, Apple Maps now has a globe view along with a new “City Experience” for iPhone users. The Globe View allows you to fly anywhere on the face of the earth from satellite view using Apple Maps. In addition, you can also interact with places from the ground by tapping on them to see nearby attractions and restaurants including your favorite chains like Netflix and Chipotle.
Apple announces their new improvements in maps in which you can view traffic in more detail, incidents along your route in advance in addition to seeing other details. The search also gets an improvement when you type up destinations for directions.
macOS Monterey Features: Conclusion
Apple has a number of fresh and exciting services which it is looking to add on to. The new macOS Monterey features are an increase over its earlier version macOS Big Sur. Depending on the functionality, some of these features will be available on all compatible macs and others will only be available because of the M1 chip.
A lot of us would not have imagined the level of sophistication and power we now see with our own eyes and fingers on a relatively tiny computer chip so advanced and refined it independently runs artificial intelligence programs that allow us to use them without any human intervention at all! And that my friends are just one example of how Apple devices can be used to work for us as opposed to needing us to work for them!
Now that Apple has released its M1 series of computers, we can see the company’s intentions to refine and strengthen specific features in its chipsets with respect to macOS Monterey. See below for more information on the different models.
