Apple Seeds Third Public Beta of macOS Monterey With Universal Control

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming macOS Monterey 12.3 update to its public beta testing group, with the new software coming a week after the second 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 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Apple Says iOS 26 Won't Be Available on These iPhone Models

Tuesday June 10, 2025 6:58 am PDT by
Apple this week revealed that iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. That means that iOS 18 is the end of the road for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, which were all released in 2018. However, those devices will continue to receive security updates for at least a few more years. iOS 26 is compatible with the following iPhone models: iPhone 16e iPhone...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...

Top Rated Comments

BWhaler Avatar
44 months ago
Really looking forward to Universal Control. My guess is it’s a game changer.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kissmo1980 Avatar
44 months ago

This is going to significantly improve my workflow. I only have one mac and one iPad. What's the verdict? Is this beta stable enough?

PS I know betas are betas
I used to jump on Beta trains... not anymore.
You probably can live without the features for 2-3 more weeks.

It's up to you- it's not the stability fo the system - the junk remaining afterwards when you decide you don't want betas anymore.

Either way - it's not a dead end. You can always cleanup and start fresh.
It's a matter of time, mood and willing to do this.... maybe I've gotten old. I rather spend some time doing something away from the Mac than spend too much time tweaking it.

It used to be fun - it faded out for me :) Others may still enjoy it - I'm not judging.

Cheers mate!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mxrider88 Avatar
44 months ago

Really looking forward to Universal Control. My guess is it’s a game changer.
I’m struggling to see it man.. probably just another half baked feature that turns out to be a gimmick. Like continuity, that never works with messages or personal hotspot that when you need it, it is not discoverable and you need to toggle it off and on.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
biglipps66 Avatar
44 months ago
I just want them to fix my mouse scroll being busted every damn time I wake my new MacBook
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brilliantthings Avatar
44 months ago
This is going to significantly improve my workflow. I only have one mac and one iPad. What's the verdict? Is this beta stable enough?

PS I know betas are betas
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MigC Avatar
44 months ago

('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/02/16/apple-macos-monterey-12-3-public-beta-3/')

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming macOS Monterey 12.3 update to its public beta testing group, with the new software coming a week after the second macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/02/09/macos-monterey-12-3-public-beta-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 ('https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/').

Universal Control is the major new feature ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/01/27/hands-on-universal-control/') 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 ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/01/27/ios-15-4-emoji/') 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 ('https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/update-airpods/').

There are some under-the-hood changes as well. Apple is removing Python 2 ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/01/28/apple-removing-python-2-in-macos-12-3/') from macOS with macOS 12.3 after support was suspended in January 2020, and Apple is eliminating some kernel extensions ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/01/27/macos-12-3-deprecates-dropbox-onedrive-kexts/') used by Dropbox and OneDrive, necessitating software updates for those apps.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Third Public Beta of macOS Monterey With Universal Control ('https://www.macrumors.com/2022/02/16/apple-macos-monterey-12-3-public-beta-3/')
Not mentioned anywhere but worth a note: reworked Metal drivers for Intel/AMD platforms introduced with beta3 now enabling the use of GPU Metal in Blender 3.1 beta + 3.2 alpha.Nice to see Apple catering to their long standing pro user base (mostly still on older platforms) and contributing financially and with manpower to devepment of open software.Good times ahead. Ty Apple.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)