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

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 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 ...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...

Top Rated Comments

BWhaler Avatar
42 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
42 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
42 months ago
Needs more Pregnant Men emojis!! :p
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
42 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
42 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
41 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)