Apple Seeds Release Candidate Version macOS Monterey 12.3 Beta to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the release candidate version of an upcoming macOS Monterey 12.3 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new software coming a week after the release of the fifth macOS Monterey 12.3 beta. The RC represents the final version of macOS Monterey 12.3 that will be released publicly next week.

macOS Monterey on MBP Feature
Registered developers can download the beta through the Apple Developer Center and after the appropriate profile is installed, betas will be available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences.

macOS Monterey 12.3 is a major update that introduces Universal Control, a feature that Apple first teased at WWDC and then delayed for several months. ‌Universal Control‌ is designed to allow you to use a single mouse/trackpad and keyboard across multiple Macs and iPads (with iPads running iPadOS 15.4).

After updating your devices to macOS 12.3 and iPadOS 15.4, ‌Universal Control‌ works automatically, allowing your Mac's cursor and keyboard to work on the iPad and vice versa. It's simple and intuitive to use.

macOS Monterey 12.3 adds support for updating the AirPods firmware when the earbuds are connected to a Mac, plus it deprecates kernel extensions used by Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive, and it eliminates Python 2, with Apple instructing developers to use an alternative scripting language like Python 3 going forward.

There are also new emoji characters, including melting face, biting lip, heart hands, bubbles, beans, face with diagonal mouth, palm up hand, eggs, troll, low battery, coral, lotus, and more.

Update: The update is now also available to public beta testers.

Related Forum: macOS Monterey

Popular Stories

Tim Cook WWDC 2018

Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times. The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said. While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.2 Beta 3

Monday November 17, 2025 3:20 pm PST by
Apple provided developers with the third beta of an upcoming iOS 26.2 update, and there are still new features that are being added with each beta that we get. We've rounded up all of the changes that Apple made in beta 3. AirDrop Apple added new AirDrop functionality, providing a way for two people to share files temporarily without having to add one another as contacts. iOS 26.2...
best early black friday deals

Best Black Friday Apple Deals Live Now - Save on AirPods, iPads, and Apple Watches

Saturday November 15, 2025 1:45 pm PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
Apple Wallet ID Illinois

iPhone Driver's License Feature Launching in Illinois

Tuesday November 18, 2025 8:47 am PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Starting this Wednesday, November 19, the feature will be available to residents of Illinois. The announcement confirmed that the...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's 2026 Mac Plans

Friday November 14, 2025 3:23 pm PST by
Most of Apple's Macs are slated to get M5 chips across 2026, and there's a possibility we'll even see the first M6 chips toward the end of the year. Updates are planned for everything from the MacBook Air to the Mac Studio. MacBook Air (Early 2026) The MacBook Air will be one of the first Macs to get a 2026 refresh, with an update planned for the first few months of the year. The MacBook...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Here's When Tesla is Expected to Add Support for Apple CarPlay

Sunday November 16, 2025 6:49 am PST by
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that Tesla plans to add Apple CarPlay support to its vehicles "in the coming months." This is easily the biggest news for the regular version of CarPlay in years, should Tesla actually follow through with offering the system in its vehicles. As noted by Gurman, this would be a stunning reversal for Tesla and its CEO Elon ...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
Apple Sports App Preview Feature

Apple Sports App on iPhone Now Available in More European Countries

Monday November 17, 2025 6:27 am PST by
The free Apple Sports app on the iPhone was released in additional European countries today, including Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Romania, Ukraine, and others. The app was already available in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Austria, France, Germany,...

Top Rated Comments

Realityck Avatar
48 months ago
For macOS 12.3 RC (21E230) - March 8, 2022
[SPOILER="macOS Monterey 12.3 Release Notes"]
[HEADING=2]Apple Pay[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]New Features[/HEADING]

* Developers can express payment network preference in PKPaymentRequest ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/passkit/pkpaymentrequest'). Network preference is determined by the order of supportedNetworks ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/passkit/pkpaymentrequest/1619329-supportednetworks'). This won’t override the user’s default card selection, but if the card is multi-SSD, then the network preference order determines which SSD is selected. (80827905)

[HEADING=2]Authentication[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]New Features[/HEADING]

* Support is added to the passkey technology preview, enabling signing in to passkey-compatible websites and apps on Mac and iPad using an iPhone with a saved passkey. (87998252)

[HEADING=2]Game Controller[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]New Features[/HEADING]

* Support is now available for new DualSense adaptive trigger firmware features available via GCDualSenseAdaptiveTrigger ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/gamecontroller/gcdualsenseadaptivetrigger'). (87433163)

[HEADING=2]iWork[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Known Issues[/HEADING]

* Collaboration scenarios might not work when the user configures the system to a right-to-left language. (89078453)
Workaround: Use iWork.com ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/iWork.com') to collaborate in Safari using a right-to-left language.

[HEADING=2]Kernel[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Deprecations[/HEADING]

* The kernel extensions used by Dropbox Desktop Application and Microsoft OneDrive are no longer available. Both service providers have replacements for this functionality; Dropbox is currently in beta. (85890896)

[HEADING=2]libc++[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]New Features[/HEADING]

* The following new C++20 and C++23 features are now implemented:

* C++20 library concepts defined in <concepts>.
* constexpr for std::swap() and swap-related functions.
* Miscellaneous constexpr-ification in the library.
* std::atomic now default initializes as expected.
* A .contains() method for associative containers.
* Added std::bind_front(). (88131816)


[HEADING=3]Deprecations[/HEADING]

* Some extensions in std::tuple were removed to fix bugs caused by those extensions:

* Tuples can no longer be constructed from fewer than the number of elements in the tuple. Previously, elements that weren’t specified were default-constructed; now this is a compiler error.
* A tuple can no longer be constructed from an array.
* The std::result_of and std::is_literal_type type traits are no longer available in C++20 mode, as specified in the Standard.


[HEADING=2]Python[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Deprecations[/HEADING]

* Python 2.7 was removed from macOS in this update. Developers should use Python 3 or an alternative language instead. (39795874)

[HEADING=2]StoreKit[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]New Features[/HEADING]

* SKTestSession ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekittest/sktestsession') has three new methods to simulate a subscription requiring price increase consent, simulate consenting to a pending price increase, and simulate declining a price increase in automated tests. (84556183)
* SKTestSession has two new Boolean properties to simulate billing retry and grace period in automated tests. You can identify and simulate the resolution of billing retry issues using the same APIs as interrupted purchases. (83956205)
* Users can now test the billing retry and grace period states using StoreKit Testing in Xcode. Use Xcode 13.3 or later to enable billing retry testing and toggle whether the app offers a grace period. Use isInBillingRetry ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/product/subscriptioninfo/renewalinfo/3749502-isinbillingretry') and gracePeriodExpirationDate ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/product/subscriptioninfo/renewalinfo/3749500-graceperiodexpirationdate') to handle these states in the app. (83938270)
* StoreKit error types now conform to LocalizedError ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/localizederror'). (78735204)
* Users can test subscription price increase behavior using StoreKit Testing in Xcode. Use Xcode 13.3 or later to set a price increase, then use paymentQueueShouldShowPriceConsent(_:) ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/skpaymentqueuedelegate/3521328-paymentqueueshouldshowpriceconse'), showPriceConsentIfNeeded() ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/skpaymentqueue/3521327-showpriceconsentifneeded'), and priceIncreaseStatus ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/product/subscriptioninfo/renewalinfo/3822292-priceincreasestatus') in the app. (58770817)
* Some types in StoreKit now have a localizedDescription read-only Stringinstance property. This property can be used to get a human-readable description of the value, localized for the device’s current locale. These types include: Product.ProductType ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/product/producttype'), Product.SubscriptionInfo.RenewalState ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/product/subscriptioninfo/renewalstate'), expirationReason ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/product/subscriptioninfo/renewalinfo/3749499-expirationreason'), priceIncreaseStatus ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/product/subscriptioninfo/renewalinfo/3822292-priceincreasestatus'), Transaction.OfferType ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/transaction/offertype'), Product.SubscriptionOffer.OfferType ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/product/subscriptionoffer/offertype'), Product.SubscriptionOffer.PaymentMode ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/product/subscriptionoffer/paymentmode'), Product.SubscriptionPeriod.Unit ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/product/subscriptionperiod/unit'), Transaction.RevocationReason ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/transaction/revocationreason'), and Transaction.OwnershipType ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/transaction/ownershiptype'). (78735060)

[HEADING=2]Universal Control[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Known Issues[/HEADING]

* Drag-and-drop scenarios might not work for some file types and apps. (88106322)
* Some third-party keyboards and mice might encounter issues when using additional functionality, like scroll wheels. (88106362)

[HEADING=2]WebKit[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Deprecations[/HEADING]

* Support for inline viewing of PostScript files is no longer available. (88172449)

[/SPOILER]
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Heindijs Avatar
48 months ago
I'm not even exited for Universal Control, I'm just glad that 12.3 fixes the artifacts on the sides of transparent windows such as control centre when running it on a Mac with certain Intel HD graphics chips...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fhall1 Avatar
48 months ago
Wow - only 8 comments after almost 24 hours?!? I figured there would be lots of reporting on bugs finally fixed/still not fixed, etc.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tmaxxtigger Avatar
48 months ago
6800/6900XT GPU performance issues persist. :(
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
srbNYC Avatar
48 months ago

Wow - only 8 comments after almost 24 hours?!? I figured there would be lots of reporting on bugs finally fixed/still not fixed, etc.
Same here; always surprised about the relative quiet of MacOS threads while the iOS thread are exploding.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
48 months ago
RC
Safari Version 15.4 (17613.1.17.1.6) No change

System Firmware Version: 7459.101.2 (M1 based Macs) No change

Darwin Kernel Version 21.4.0: Mon Feb 21 20:36:53 PST 2022; root:xnu-8020.101.4~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T8101 arm64

beta 5
Safari Version 15.4 (17613.1.17.1.6)

System Firmware Version: 7459.101.2 (M1 based Macs)

Darwin Kernel Version 21.4.0: Mon Feb 21 21:57:28 PST 2022; root:xnu-8020.101.4~4/RELEASE_ARM64_T8101 arm64
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)