macOS Monterey Beta 4 Brings Live Text to Intel-Based Macs

Tuesday July 27, 2021 10:54 am PDT by Sami Fathi

The latest beta update of macOS Monterey, released to developers today, has brought Live Text functionality to Intel-based Mac computers, removing the requirement for users to use an M1 Apple silicon Mac to utilize the feature, according to Rene Ritchie.

live text macos monterey feature
Live Text, included in the forthcoming macOS Monterey, iOS 15, and iPadOS 15 updates, allows users to interact with text within images, such as phone numbers, addresses, and more. With Live Text, text inside images also becomes selectable, allowing users to cut and copy the text into apps.

Apple at first stated that an ‌M1‌ Apple silicon Mac is a requirement for Live Text on macOS Monterey, but with the latest beta, it's been expanded to Intel-based Mac computers.

macOS Monterey Beta 4 includes Live Text for Intel Macs 🎉 Sounds like Apple prioritized it based on demand, but it was made much easier by the lack of real-time requirements for a camera system (So instead of kicking it to the ANE, it’ll just process opportunistically) pic.twitter.com/vM5Nd7TGh8 — Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie) July 27, 2021

macOS Monterey, alongside iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, and watchOS 8, will be released to all users this coming fall. Learn more about macOS Monterey and all of it's new features using our guide.

Related Forum: macOS Monterey

Top Rated Comments

zorinlynx

28 months ago

I'm so glad, because it was absolutely ridiculous that a feature that doesn't have to be real-time was dependent on having a certain CPU. Not only that, but many Intel Macs have beefy GPUs that can do this processing!

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

blackcrayon

Just a proof that Apple loves to apply senseless limitations solely because of business benefits by planned obsolescence.

The proof of Apple's planned obsolescence is supporting intel Macs with a new feature?

...makes sense.

You realize that Apple itself is in charge of MacOS betas, right? :)

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Wildkraut

So planned obsolescence... There's no reason why a 2017 or 2019 MBP can't support it. I wonder how many other features Apple has intentionally kept from their machines just to make new machines a more compelling upgrade.

My 2012 (NINE YEARS OLD) Mac Pro runs macOS Big Slur w/o issues. Just had to upgrade the graphics card. I'm not expecting Apple to support 9+ year old computers, but when the hardware is perfectly capable, there's no reason to drop support.

You had to upgrade the graphic card, probably because there was no driver for it. But i bet even your old graphic card would be technically capable of running it without issues.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

cmChimera

Yeah this has been bizarre to me. This feature was explicitly said to NOT be coming to intel Macs, and Apple added it anyway and people are mad about it. I don't get it.

name99

So when I want to copy text from idiot Apple apps (like Music.app) that won't allow me to copy some text fields, the workflow will be
- screen capture the Apple app
- use Live Text to copy it from the screen capture
?

That seems like, uh, "something". Something yes, but progress is definitely not the word.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)