Apple Releases New macOS 12 Monterey Public Beta

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. The updated beta comes just a day after Apple released the sixth macOS Monterey developer beta.

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. Universal Control, for example, lets 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. ‌Universal Control‌ isn't out yet, but we're still hoping it makes it into the Monterey launch.

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 lets 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.

Apple has also released new public betas of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and tvOS 15, and a fifth beta of Safari 15 for macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina users.

Related Forum: macOS Monterey

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Top Rated Comments

Lucas Curious Avatar
48 months ago

Do you mean something like... (see attachment)?
Yes but a man



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Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Razorpit Avatar
48 months ago

Yes but a man


? That’s not a pregnant man. That’s man after eating burritos and drinking beer.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lucas Curious Avatar
48 months ago
can anyone confirm if Beta 6 has Pregnant Person emojis? ?️‍?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jasoncarle Avatar
48 months ago
You say that but...



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Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
drumcat Avatar
48 months ago
Outlook works again.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
5097842 Avatar
48 months ago
I will download it and once again be disappointed that they still won’t let me revert to the Safari tab configuration I had in macOS 11. Having tabs above the favorites bar doesn’t make sense to me and slows me down. At least iOS 15 allows me to replicate the iOS 14 Safari setup.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)