Apple Seeds Second Public Beta of macOS Monterey With Universal Control - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Seeds Second Public Beta of macOS Monterey With Universal Control

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS Monterey 12.3 update to its public beta testing group, with the new software coming a week after the first macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta.

macOS Monterey 2
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 as well. 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

iPhone 18 Pro Rumored Colors

What's Coming in September: New iPhones, Apple Watches and More

Thursday August 13, 2026 4:20 pm PDT by
Apple will introduce at least five new devices at its iPhone-centric event next month, and it's also possible we'll get devices waiting on Siri AI like the Apple TV. iPhone 18 Pro The iPhone 18 Pro is going to look like the iPhone 17 Pro, but with a smaller Dynamic Island. It's getting some internal updates, including a new Wide camera with a variable aperture for more control over lighting ...
iPhone 17 One Year Later Thumb 1

Should You Buy an iPhone 17 Now or Wait for iPhone 18?

Friday August 14, 2026 12:15 pm PDT by
For the first time since Apple started selling standard and "Pro" iPhones, we're not going to get an entry-level iPhone model this fall. Apple doesn't plan to release an iPhone 18 in September, and will only launch the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable iPhone Ultra. The lower-cost iPhone 18 won't come out until spring 2027. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Everything New Your iPhone Can Do on iOS 27 Feature 1

30 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 27

Friday August 14, 2026 6:24 am PDT by
Apple will release iOS 27 in September, and despite the company's focus this year on refining its flagship operating system and nixing bugs, there are still many additional features on the way, not least of which is Apple's new context-aware Siri, re-tooled for the generative AI era. This year's major iPhone software update isn't all about AI, though, as the following feature list...

Top Rated Comments

gank41 Avatar
59 months ago
Look's like Apple's updated their servers for the latest install Assistant .pkg file.

https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/23/30/002-66217-A_ACVWSX94YV/d9iefwh8ij6sxtm1n48ssolnlg0utl1rmx/InstallAssistant.pkg
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacsRgr8 Avatar
59 months ago
One thing that irritates me on my 24" iMac M1 (maxed out):
Connecting a 4K TV via TB 4->HDMI cable as 2nd display.

It does work, but if I want "extended display", 4K @ 60fps, I need to remove and re-insert the cable at the back of the iMac after a reboot.

If I don't do that, it always defaults to screen-mirror, 4K @ 30fps. I cannot adjust the settings in System Prefs. Only removing and re-inserting the TB 4 (USB C) cable gives the correct options.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macar00n Avatar
59 months ago

Can you iterate what these massive bugs are succinctly for those of us who don't seem to experience them?
Kernel panicking when connected to my one external display when waking up from sleep. A dock does it too so I removed that from my setup to reduce complexity. To trick my machine into not KPing on wake, I have to open the lid - if I wake it by keyboard, it KPs maybe a third of the time, wiping out what I'm doing on both my personal and work user accounts. Ultra annoying coming from Macs that could have months of sequential uptime. This bug was covered in MacRumors review video and in my research I've found that it has been around since the first M1 Macs in early 2021 with no resolution since.

The Bluetooth battery drain while asleep is massive.

A minor one that I hate so much is that my FN button, improved in Monterey to be able to pull up emoji menu, stopped doing it in 12.2. Just absolute amateur hour with Monterey. It's like they don't test at all anymore. Just tout and deliver crappy new features
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macar00n Avatar
59 months ago
Are the massive bugs fixed? Forget the features for five seconds Apple - first and foremost, is it stable?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
59 months ago
Some issues were fixed in this second beta. The Javascript issue with Safari 15.4 and speedtest.net was fixed. That warning about Catalina users upgrading to this beta was fixed. Yesterday it took a second install for this to complete the installation. Not sure it was attributed to server issue or something else. Like to know if it installs in the first pass?

macOS 12.3 beta 2 (21E5206e)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tmoerel Avatar
59 months ago

Every time you encounter a new problem in macOS, just remember this: most of Apple's top programmers are not on the macOS team but iOS.

Is this a fact? If yes, please provide evidence! If not then this is your opinion and thus could be considered trolling!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)