Note: This feature was first published on 29 October 2021.
Monterey, the new iteration of macOS, recently saw its release on Monday, October 25th. First announced during Apple’s WWDC 2021 event, the update sees new features related to productivity, connectivity, and improved functionality for apps like Safari and FaceTime. Here are 10 of our top macOS Monterey features to look forward to.
Shortcuts
If you’re familiar with Shortcuts for iOS, this is its Mac counterpart. Shortcuts allow you to automate functions, consolidating all the taps and swipes you would normally need to do a task into a single button. Examples that Apple lists include sharing files across messaging apps, and creating animated GIFs out of videos.
Just like on iOS, Monterey will come with a gallery of pre-built shortcuts that you can start using immediately. But if none of them fit your workflow, there’s also a Shortcut editor to make your custom shortcuts as well.
Shortcuts compatibility runs deep within Monterey as well, with system apps like Finder, Spotlight and the menu bar supporting it. Hands-free Shortcuts usage with Siri is also available. As an added bonus, shortcuts sync across Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads and other Macs.
Maps
The new globe view on Apple Maps.
Just as iOS 15 revamped Apple Maps to have a more detailed, three-dimensional view of the landscape, Maps in macOS is also getting a revamp.
These include a fully interactive 3D globe like Google Maps, enhanced details for natural formations like mountain ranges and landscapes, and enhanced building and elevation details for cityscapes.
There are also new driving navigation features, including a new driving map that looks out for traffic and incidents on the road, as well as details like turning lanes, bicycle lanes and pedestrian crossings.
Universal Control
If you’re someone who works across Apple’s ecosystem of products, this is a feature that has the potential to streamline your workflow immensely. Universal Control allows you to use one keyboard and mouse/trackpad across iPad and Mac. And the really amazing thing is that it requires zero setup.
Universal Control joins Continuity, Apple’s list of features that further integrate Apple devices to improve workflow, which includes other past features like Airdrop, Handoff, and Sidecar, the latter of which works similarly to Universal Control by turning your iPad into your Mac’s secondary display.
In relation to Sidecar, however, Universal Control goes a step further. While Sidecar makes your iPad an extension of macOS, Universal Control keeps the iPad as a separate device that just happens to share the same input devices as your Mac. This allows you to use iPadOS in conjunction with your Mac, including the ability to drag and drop files between both devices.
The most impressive aspect is its ease of use. After placing your iPad next to your Mac, you can move the cursor towards the iPad, linking the two devices. If you’re always on your Apple devices, you can set Universal Control to work continuously in System Preferences, negating the need to move the cursor to your iPad every time you need to link them.
Dragging and dropping allows you to work between your Mac and iPad seamlessly.
Universal Control also works with up to three devices, so if you have an iMac laying around that you want to connect with your MacBook-and-iPad pair for example, you can.
There is a caveat to this, however, Universal Control is absent from the current version of Monterey, and according to Apple, will only be available later this year.
AirPlay to Mac
Another addition to the suite of Continuity features, AirPlay to Mac now allows you to beam audio and visual content from your iPhone or iPad to a Mac, which includes the ability to use your Mac as an Airplay 2 speaker.
You can also choose to mirror your display on a Mac, or use it as an extension for apps that support it, like Keynote and Photos. AirPlay to Mac works wirelessly over Wi-Fi, or through a wired USB connection.
Focus
Another productivity feature to take note of is Focus. Located in the top right of the menu bar, Focus allows users to customise and filter notifications based on the task at hand, essentially creating different notification profiles for different situations like work and personal time. Customisation for each profile includes choosing different contacts and apps to receive, and choosing when a time for a Focus profile to automatically turn on and off.
When contacts outside your current Focus attempt to contact you, they will receive a status notifying them that the person they’re reaching has notifications silenced. You can even turn on auto-reply for those attempting to contact you through SMS.
For those who need to send an important message, they can mark their message as urgent, which will break through the Focus filter to send a notification. Users with Focus turned on can also allow certain interruptions for important notifications.
SharePlay and FaceTime improvements
Monterey sees the introduction of SharePlay, a way to share media with others in a FaceTime call. Though that may sound simple, SharePlay offers deeper integration with FaceTime than just sharing your screen.
SharePlay allows callers to listen to music or watch TV shows through streaming services directly on FaceTime, with synced playback controls so that all callers are watching the same thing at the same time. Multi-device support is here as well, so you can still watch and listen to content through SharePlay on your Apple TV or HomePod.
Other general additions to FaceTime have made it as well, including a portrait mode for video calls, and a grid view of up to 18 callers. There are also a few new audio features, including spatial audio, which positions callers based on where they’re displayed in the call, Voice Isolation mode, which uses machine learning to isolate your voice, and Wide Spectrum mode, which allows callers to hear all the sounds being detected by your microphone.
FaceTime can now also be accessed on the web, meaning those with non-Apple devices can join a FaceTime call through an invite link on the supported browsers, Chrome and Edge.
Shared with You
Content shared over Messages have their own section now.
Shared with You is a new feature designed to organise content shared over the Messages app. This doesn't just cover photos and videos, but encompasses everything corresponding to Safari, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and the Apple TV app.
For example, Safari links sent over Messages will appear in the Shared With You section on the Safari start page and sidebar, movies and programmes will appear on the Shared with You section of Watch Now in the Apple TV app, and of course, broad sets of photos will appear in a specific Shared with You section on the Photos app, with more important photos going into the Your Library section.
There's also extra functionality on the corresponding apps as well. You're able to see who sent the shared content and open the related message on Messages, allowing you to carry on the conversation associated with the Shared with You content.
You can also pin Shared with You content, which will elevate it in its respective Shared with You section, the Messages search and Details view of the conversation.
Changes to tabs in Safari and improvements
Tab groups in the new sidebar on Safari.
With Monterey, Safari gets a host of whole new features as well, designed to clean up the browsing experience and make it more organised, especially for users who have large amounts of tabs open.
One of these features is Tab Groups. Tap Groups allows you to manage tabs into separate groups for different occasions, such as work and news. Tabs are saved into collections, and clicking on the tab group in the sidebar opens those tabs for you, which saves the effort of having to search and re-visit websites when you need them. Tab Groups are also synced across Apple devices as well.
Another more contentious feature is the new compact tabs and tab bar design.
By default, tabs in Safari occupy a separate line beneath the address bar. With Monterey, however, you can turn it into a compact tab bar, which compresses the address bar and tab bar into the same line. It wouldn’t be accurate to call it an ‘address bar’ in this mode either, as the search and URL field act as the current tab, rather than being a separate, dedicated bar.
How tabs look on Safari's compact tab bar.
The feature was controversial among users due to usability issues, including less space for tab text, the address bar changing location with each tab, and less empty space to drag around the window. Apple ended up walking back this change during the beta process, and the original tab view remains the default, though the option to switch to a compact tab bar still exists.
Finally, Safari will also see some improvements to existing features. There’s a redesigned sidebar to accommodate tab groups, sites known to support the more secure HTTPS protocol will be upgraded from HTTP, and Intelligent Tracking Prevention can now prevent trackers from profiling users based on IP addresses.
Live Text
Live Text is straightforward - text in photos is now interactable, which means you can select text and treat them as if they were text on a webpage. Functions like copy-paste, translate and lookup can be used on them, and Live Text also allows you to grab the selected text and drag them into another application.
This could be a good productivity tool as it saves time from having to write down text from a photographed document, or if you want to look something up from a photo without having to type it out. Live Text is currently compatible with Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look and Safari.
Mac Experience features
Erase All Contnet and Settings, a new mode that erases a Mac's data without deleting macOS.
To round the list off, macOS Monterey includes some new improvements and features to improve general Mac operation.
Low Power Mode, an already existing feature on iOS, finds its way onto macOS. It reduces system clock speed and dims screen brightness to extend battery life while making your Mac operate quieter.
Windows can now automatically resize themselves to fit on secondary displays, which works even with Sidecar on iPads.
Finally, there’s now an Erase All Content and Settings option in System Preferences, which clears a Mac of its storage while keeping its operating system intact. This allows for a more efficient way to restore a Mac to its factory settings, without having to go into macOS Recovery, formatting the drive, and reinstalling macOS.
It’s important to note, however, that this function only works with Macs on Apple Silicon or Macs with Apple’s T2 Security Chip. The M1 and T2 chips encrypt storage on their devices, and Erase All Content and Settings works by destroying those encryption keys.
What Macs can be updated to macOS Monterey?
These are the ones eligible for the update:
- iMac (late 2015 and newer)
- iMac Pro (2017 and newer)
- Mac Pro (late 2013 and newer)
- Mac Mini (late 2014 and newer)
- MacBook Pro (early 2015 and newer)
- MacBook Air (early 2015 and newer)
- MacBook (early 2016 and newer)
Note that if you're upgrading from macOS Sierra or later, Apple says macOS Monterey will need 26GB of available storage to update. If you're upgrading from a version that's earlier than macOS Sierra, you will need 44GB.
You can find the update by going to the Apple logo on the top left of your screen, clicking About This Mac and clicking software update.
And if you want to know what other features macOS Monterey has, you can check out the full list of features here.
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.