Apple Seeds Second Release Candidate Version of macOS Monterey 12.5 to Developers

Apple today seeded a second release candidate version of macOS Monterey 12.5 to developers for testing purposes. The new version comes six days after the original release candidate version of macOS Monterey 12.5 and three days after second release candidate versions of iOS 15.6 and iPadOS 15.6.

macOS Monterey 2
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's no word yet on what new features or changes might be included in ‌macOS Monterey‌ 12.5, and nothing new of significance was documented in the beta testing period. It's likely this update focuses on bug fixes and other minor improvements to the operating system.

The release candidate update should represent the final version of macOS Monterey 12.5 that is expected to be released to the public as soon as later this week.

Related Forum: macOS Monterey

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

iPhone SE 4 With Apple's Own 5G Modem 'Confirmed' to Launch in March

Tuesday November 19, 2024 12:12 pm PST by
Barclays analyst Tom O'Malley and his colleagues recently traveled to Asia to meet with various electronics manufacturers and suppliers. In a research note this week, outlining key takeaways from the trip, the analysts said they have "confirmed" that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is slated to launch towards the end of the first quarter next year. In line with previo...
airtag purple

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch Next Year With These New Features

Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development. Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag. Timing Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
at t turbo indicator iphone 16 pro max v0 8hrh7w5f3w1e1

AT&T Turbo Indicator Showing Up in iPhone Status Bar for Subscribers

Wednesday November 20, 2024 3:42 am PST by
AT&T has begun displaying "Turbo" in the iPhone carrier label for customers subscribed to its premium network prioritization service, according to reports on Reddit. The new indicator seems to have started appearing after users updated to iOS 18.1.1, but that could be just coincidence. Image credit: Reddit user No_Highlight7476 The Turbo feature provides enhanced network performance through ...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

Apple Releases iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 With Security Fixes

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 come three weeks after the launch of iOS 18.1. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iOS 17.7.2 for...
Magic Mouse Next to Keyboard

No, Apple CEO Tim Cook Didn't Say He Prefers Logitech's MX Master 3 Over the Magic Mouse

Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false. The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Rumored to Surpass iPhone 6 as Thinnest iPhone Ever

Monday November 18, 2024 1:07 pm PST by
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick. "We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote. If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
apple card feature2

Apple Card 3% Daily Cash Back Now Available From Two More Apple Partners

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:36 am PST by
Apple has partnered with select merchants to offer Apple Card users three percent Daily Cash back on their purchases, and two new companies were added to the partner list today. When purchasing goods and services from Booking.com and ChargePoint, Apple Card users will now get more cash back. Booking.com is a site for reserving flights, cars, cruises, and hotels, while ChargePoint sells...
bug security vulnerability issue fix larry

Make Sure to Update: iOS 18.1.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 Fix Actively Exploited Vulnerabilities

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:52 am PST by
The iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 updates that Apple released today address JavaScriptCore and WebKit vulnerabilities that Apple says have been actively exploited on some devices. With the JavaScriptCore vulnerability, processing maliciously crafted web content could lead to arbitrary code execution. The WebKit vulnerability had the same issue with maliciously crafted...

Top Rated Comments

zorinlynx Avatar
31 months ago

Monterrey has turned out to be one of the most mixed bag releases of macOS to date. It’s like the new Lion. I’m still on Big Sur and have yet had the urge to upgrade. Do hope the 5 point releases so far have done it justice and make it stable enough not move from version 11. If Monterrey is like this, you can only imagine what Ventura is gonna be like with all its new gimmicks. I will definitely leave it to the early adopter beta testers this fall to iron the remaining issues.
Monterey has been incredibly stable for me and I've had almost no issues. In fact this release has been better for me than Big Sur was, and I'm happy that if my 2015 5K iMac is going to be left behind that it will be left behind on Monterey.

You haven't upgraded yet; how do you even know if it's horrible or not?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
roncron Avatar
31 months ago

Monterrey has turned out to be one of the most mixed bag releases of macOS to date. It’s like the new Lion. I’m still on Big Sur and have yet had the urge to upgrade. Do hope the 5 point releases so far have done it justice and make it stable enough not move from version 11. If Monterrey is like this, you can only imagine what Ventura is gonna be like with all its new gimmicks. I will definitely leave it to the early adopter beta testers this fall to iron the remaining issues.
For me, Monterey has been pretty stable since about 12.1. (I usually wait until .1 of a new macOS before installing). I don't use Mail or the Stocks app, but the rest of the apps included in Monterey have worked well for me.

If you're basing your opinion of Monterey (the "mixed bag" comment) on the fact that there are lots of people in these forums that have posted issues they're having with Monterey, I'd suggest that's not the best indicator of how well Monterey would likely work for you.

A much better indicator (that doesn't exist, unfortunately) would be the percentage of Monterey users that are having a good experience with it.

You can't infer how many people are doing well with Monterey from forum posts here, unfortunately, because very few of them will create a new post to state that. Instead, people post when they're having a problem, in hopes that other forum users can give them ideas, or share a solution if they've previously encountered the same problem. (Sorry, I know you probably knew this already and I really don't mean to condescend.)

Of course there are lots of folks in these forums who know way more about macOS than me and are having legitimate problems (meaning, not "user error") with parts of Monterey. That doesn't mean you'll experience the same problems, and it doesn't mean Monterey generally sucks for most users.

I'd encourage you to give Monterey a try. (Though maybe wait until 12.5 is released to the public, which is likely imminent.) It might turn out to be a mixed bag for you, but I think it's much more likely that you'll have a good experience with it.

Best wishes.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
31 months ago

Monterrey has turned out to be one of the most mixed bag releases of macOS to date. It’s like the new Lion. I’m still on Big Sur and have yet had the urge to upgrade. Do hope the 5 point releases so far have done it justice and make it stable enough not move from version 11. If Monterrey is like this, you can only imagine what Ventura is gonna be like with all its new gimmicks. I will definitely leave it to the early adopter beta testers this fall to iron the remaining issues.
How can one be critical with a OS when you are not using it? :D
Big Sur was the very first Apple Silicon OS and reasonable people would want to run from that to Monterey as soon as they are satisfied with it gone through several minor incremental releases. So IMHO run don't stop and install 12.5 MacOS when it goes public. Ventura in its earliest betas is like a more progression from Monterey, especially with Metal 3, Stage manger and other enhancements that make the OS more polished with AS support.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Dee Avatar
31 months ago
Monterrey has turned out to be one of the most mixed bag releases of macOS to date. It’s like the new Lion. I’m still on Big Sur and have yet had the urge to upgrade. Do hope the 5 point releases so far have done it justice and make it stable enough not move from version 11. If Monterrey is like this, you can only imagine what Ventura is gonna be like with all its new gimmicks. I will definitely leave it to the early adopter beta testers this fall to iron the remaining issues.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mick-Mac Avatar
31 months ago
My updating method has evolved from being an Apple beta-tester (with the maximum amount of pain and suffering in exchange for fulfilling my techno-lust) into abandoning all that and waiting for public release of macOS N.0 at which point I update to the existing version of macOS N-1. That pretty much always keeps me sane and on solid ground. I get a shiny new macOS update every year, but time shifted. Just got so sick of macOS bugs in the early versions compounded with application bugs (and even availability) for the new macOS version.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rpmurray Avatar
31 months ago

Any insight from release notes as to why 12.5 is taking so long to bake?
Too many cooks?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)