Apple Seeds Third macOS Monterey 12.3 Beta to Developers

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming macOS macOS Monterey 12.3 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new software coming a week after the release of the second macOS Monterey 12.3 beta.

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. There is also a macOS 11.6.5 update for those still running macOS Big Sur.

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.

maOS 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.

Related Forum: macOS Monterey

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2 Redux

Top 5 Apple Products to Look Forward to in 2025

Friday December 20, 2024 2:22 pm PST by
It's looking like 2025 is going to be an important year for Apple, with the company planning to revamp the iPhone, push further into smart home products, and improve Apple Intelligence. There are tons of new products rumored for 2025, including new iPhones, M4 Macs, a smart home command center, and much more. We've highlighted the top five Apple products that will have the biggest impact in...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...

Top Rated Comments

Realityck Avatar
37 months ago

Really hope this is the release with major issues addressed and feature complete. I’d like to upgrade, just for universal control and the latest privacy and security features, but Apple’s poor software quality demands precaution before upgrading.
So your not really participating in beta testing, right? Just making comments.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BWhaler Avatar
37 months ago
Really hope this is the release with major issues addressed and feature complete. I’d like to upgrade, just for universal control and the latest privacy and security features, but Apple’s poor software quality demands precaution before upgrading.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
37 months ago
[SPOILER="macOS Monterey 12.3 Beta 3 Release Notes"]
[HEADING=2]FaceTime[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Known Issues[/HEADING]

* On iOS and macOS, it’s possible to trigger taking a photo of a participant when in a Group FaceTime call. On iOS, this could occur when you tap the Grid button or the bottom-left corner of the screen. On macOS, this could occur when you click the Grid button or the top-right corner of the window. (88720303)

[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]LibreSSL[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Known Issues[/HEADING]

* LibreSSL 3.3 has changed the default digest type of openssl enc Terminal command to SHA256. Files previously encrypted with an older version of OpenSSL might fail to decrypt. (87763613)
Workaround: The openssl enc command should be run by adding the -md md5argument.

[HEADING=2]Mobile Software Update[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Resolved in macOS Monterey 12.3 Beta 3[/HEADING]

* Fixed: Installing to an empty volume from macOS Recovery might fail. (87730473)

[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]Safari[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Known Issues[/HEADING]

* Safari might crash upon loading webpages on a Mac with Apple silicon. (88222677)

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

* In ScreenCaptureKit ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/screencapturekit'), if an origin other than (0,0) is specified in the destinationRect ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/screencapturekit/scstreamconfiguration/3919822-destinationrect')or sourceRect ('https://developer.apple.com/documentation/screencapturekit/scstreamconfiguration/3919829-sourcerect'), the contentRect is incorrect. (87363220)

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

* Unexpected disconnections might occur on initial connection. (88106231)
Workaround: Sleep, then wake the device, and try again.
* 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]Known Issues[/HEADING]

* Using the App Store might lead to an authentication loop in which the HTML sheet has no content. (87850345)

[HEADING=3]Deprecations[/HEADING]

* Support for inline viewing of PostScript files was removed. (88172449


[/SPOILER]
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
37 months ago

Are you complaining, I can't tell. It makes sense to have administrator status for performing an administrator function. I like a bad guy have administrator status in my main login, and got no login prompt before downloading. I did need to type a password before install, but that seems fair. I know, I know, I should have separate logins, don't remind me
Its a legit observation.

For many 12.0, 12.0.1, 12.1, 12.2 Monterey betas in the past it was at the end of the install. Download, preparation, prompted Admin credential then it installs.

12.3 Beta 2 and this Beta 3 have the Admin credential event now occurring before the whole installation process. Its functional better because you don't have to wait until the end of preparation to return to do that.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
37 months ago
Good deal want to see how the third beta does against some issues.

macOS 12.3 beta 3 (21E5212f). Once again it starts by asking for admin password before downloading. M1 download is 2.92 GB.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
steve333 Avatar
37 months ago
Improve safari already! It's not like you don't have the money, Apple. Make it the best browser for the Mac, not just a nice to look at browser that misbehaves all the time
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)