Apple Releases New macOS 12 Monterey Public Beta

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Apple today seeded a new public beta of the macOS 12 Monterey beta to public beta testers, allowing non-developers to test the new macOS Monterey software ahead of its public release.

macos monterey tidbits feature copy
Public beta testers can download the macOS 12 Monterey update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

macOS Monterey introduces quite a few major updates for the macOS operating system. When released, Universal Control will let a single mouse, trackpad, and keyboard be used across multiple Mac or iPad devices, and it's now possible to AirPlay directly to a Mac from an iPhone, ‌iPad‌, or even another Mac.

Safari has an updated tab bar and support for Tab Groups to keep tons of tabs organized, and FaceTime now features support for spatial audio, Portrait Mode (M1 Macs only) and Voice Isolation for cutting out background noise. A SharePlay ‌FaceTime‌ feature (coming in a Monterey update) will let Apple TV users watch TV, listen to music, and share their screens with one another.

Shared With You, another new feature, keeps track of the music, links, podcasts, news, and photos that people are sent in Messages, highlighting it in the relevant apps. Notes has a new Quick Note feature for jotting down thoughts, and the Shortcuts app is now available on the Mac.

A dedicated Focus mode helps people stay on task by cutting out background distractions based on what's going on, and there's an updated Maps app with a whole slew of new features. With Live Text, Macs can now detect text in photos or provide details on animals, art, landmarks, plants, and more in images. The new beta adds Live Text support for Intel Macs.

Mail Privacy Protection hides IP and prevents tracking through invisible pixels, and iCloud Private Relay keeps Safari browsing protected. There are many other new features in ‌macOS Monterey‌, with a complete overview available in our macOS Monterey roundup.

Related Forum: macOS Monterey

Top Rated Comments

DHagan4755 Avatar
DHagan4755
20 months ago
If Apple's aiming for a mid-October release, one more beta before the release candidate?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
Realityck
20 months ago
I been using b7 since yesterday. Safari browser rending URL pages is improved. The download, and install went well, so if you're a PB tester you should like this beta better.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
jz0309
20 months ago
Downloading to my M1 MBA now
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ElectricPotato Avatar
ElectricPotato
20 months ago
Tim hears the roar of new recruits: Avē Imperātor, moritūrī tē salūtant.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CLS7 Avatar
CLS7
20 months ago
The PB didn't show up on my iMac late 2015 so I downloaded the full installer instead (11.66GB!)

https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-12-monterey-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vett93 Avatar
vett93
20 months ago

I been using b7 since yesterday. Safari browser rending URL pages is improved. The download, and install went well, so if you're a PB tester you should like this beta better.
Apple released a new version of Safari for Big Sur as well. It is faster too. On Speedometer benchmark, its score has gone up from 71 to 81. Nice! However, Chrome's score is 87. Thanks to the competition so that we are getting snappier Safari.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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