Apple Seeds First Public Beta of macOS Monterey With Universal Control

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Monterey 12.3 update to its public beta testing group, with the new software coming one day after it was provided to developers.

macOS Monterey on MBP Feature
Public beta testers can download the macOS 12.3 Monterey update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

Universal Control is the major new feature in macOS Monterey 12.3, and it is designed to allow multiple Macs and iPads to be controlled using a single mouse/trackpad and keyboard. If you have a MacBook Pro and an iPad Pro, for example, both devices can be controlled with the ‌MacBook Pro‌'s trackpad and keyboard or a keyboard attached to the iPad.


iPadOS 15.4 is required for ‌Universal Control‌ on the ‌iPad‌, and once the updates are installed on your devices, the feature just works as it is automatically enabled.

macOS Monterey also includes new Emoji 14 characters like melting face, biting lip, heart hands, and more, and plus it adds support for updating AirPods with a Mac. There's no official update interface, but your AirPods can receive firmware updates over-the-air when connected to a Mac, similar to how the update process works with an iPhone.

There are some under-the-hood changes too. Apple is removing Python 2 from macOS with macOS 12.3 after support was suspended in January 2020, and Apple is eliminating some kernel extensions used by Dropbox and OneDrive, necessitating software updates for those apps.

Related Forum: macOS Monterey

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3

Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected [Updated]

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

Apple AirTag 2: Four New Features Found in iOS 26 Code

Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products. Here's what's supposedly coming: An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
maxresdefault

iOS 26 Code Leak Reveals Apple Smart Home Hub Details

Thursday December 11, 2025 4:02 pm PST by
Apple is working on a smart home hub that will rely heavily on the more capable version of Siri that's coming next year. We've heard quite a bit about the hub over the last two years, but a recent iOS 26 code leak provides additional insight into what we can expect and confirms rumored features. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Macworld claims to have access to an ...

Top Rated Comments

BWhaler Avatar
51 months ago
I'm really looking forward to this release. It feels like x.3 is the new launch version—it’s when the OS is stable and all the promised features are delivered.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
51 months ago
Don’t run speedtest.net URL uses a lot of memory (GBs) with Safari 15.4 on M1 macs. Use openspeedtest.com instead.
Don’t have safari technology preview installed before updating causes issues with Safari 15.4. It also not working with this beta it seems.

Normal use Safari 15.4 runs fine, except those two instance’s previously discussed.

The installer is about 5GB.

Added to release notes Jan 29
Warning

If your Mac currently has macOS Catalina installed, installing macOS Monterey 12.3 beta or macOS Big Sur 11.6.4 beta on a volume with FileVault enabled might cause a boot loop when attempting to log back into the previous volume. (88163545)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
user_xyz Avatar
51 months ago
Needs more Pregnant Men emojis!! :p
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
51 months ago

I assume this only works with Apple Silicon and not older Intel based machines. Is that correct?
No
see https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/universal-control-3812900/

[HEADING=2]Compatible Macs include:[/HEADING]

* MacBook Pro (2016 and later)
* MacBook (2016 and later)
* MacBook Air (2018 and later)
* 21.5in iMac (2017 and later)
* 27in iMac (2015 and later)
* 24in iMac
* iMac Pro
* Mac mini (2018 and later)
* Mac Pro (2019)

[HEADING=2]Compatible iPads include:[/HEADING]

* iPad Pro
* iPad Air (3rd generation and later)
* iPad (6th generation and later)
* iPad mini (5th generation and later)

This means that if your Mac is from 2015 or earlier it's not a feature you will be able to enjoy (unless you have a 27in iMac from that era).
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
James_C Avatar
51 months ago
Just tried Universal control with iPad Pro and 16” M1 MacBook Pro. It’s been a while since Apple made my jaw drop, using the trackpad on the iPad is incredible, no discenable lag, entering text on the iPad is now a pleasure using the MacBook Pro keyboard. Seamlessly moving back and forward between the two screens. It’s been worth the wait for this feature.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
James_C Avatar
51 months ago

Can you use the iPads input device (the Apple Pencil) to do things on the Mac??

Or only the Macs input devices to do things on the iPad?
The Apple Pencil won't work on a Mac in Universal Control as the Pencil is constrained by the iPad display. If you have a Mouse or Trackpad attached to the iPad that should work (I have not tested though).

However Sidecar which is another technology Apple created before Universal control turns the iPad into a second display, and you should be able to use the Apple Pencil as a drawing tool on an App moved over to the iPad display from the Mac.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)