MacOS Monterey is almost here, this is what you get
Upgrading to the latest MacBook Pro not for you, but a number of new features on your older MacBook? Then you must be happy with the soon release of MacOS Monterey.
Everything is traditional at Apple. When a new iPhone comes out, there will also be a brand new version of iOS for older iPhones during or just after release. The Macs are no different. Last week we got to know the brand new 2021 models of the MacBook Pro that will be delivered from next week. That traditionally means that the brand new version of MacOS called Monterey is also planned for next week.
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Release MacOS Monterey
In fact: MacOS Monterey has already been announced here and there October 25: so tomorrow. From then on, the brand new OS for your Mac can be downloaded on older MacBooks. You can download the version on the following devices:
- iMac (as of late 2015)
- iMac Pro (2017 onwards)
- MacBook Air (as of early 2015)
- MacBook Pro (as of early 2015)
- MacBook (2016 onwards)
- Mac Pro (as of 2013)
- Mac Mini (as of 2014)
Features MacOS Monterey
Of course, for the best MacBook experience, Apple wants you to buy the new MacBook Pro with M1 Pro or Max chip, but for those who don’t like that and still use their old MacBook with love, there are also a number of nice features. We’ll go through the most important ones with you.
FaceTime
First, a lot of time and effort has gone into making FaceTime on MacOS Monterey more comprehensive than ever before. We already saw most of these features in the release of iOS 15, but you can also get them on your MacBook. For example, SharePlay. Then you can watch a movie or listen to music with everyone in the FaceTime conversation. What you watch or listen to is then streamed to everyone present in your conversation.
FaceTime also seems to want to become a competitor to Teams or Zoom more than ever. A number of features that we know from these somewhat business-oriented apps are also coming to FaceTime. This way you can share your screen and point to things on your screen and you can see all participants in a kind of grid and the one who is talking lights up. The microphone has been modified to sound clearer, by spatial audio hear yourself better and portrait mode for FaceTime is also coming to Mac.
FaceTime for Android and Windows!
FaceTime is, of course, Apple’s spearhead, but something new is coming. MacOS Monterey allows you to create a web link for your FaceTime call. Anyone can participate, even if they have a device without iOS or MacOS! Android and Windows are supported as OS to use the web link and everything remains end-to-end encrypted at all times.
Safari
MacOS Monterey follows iOS 15 with a slightly more tidy layout for Safari. The tab bar is arranged differently, for example.
You can also group tabs and save these groups so that you can access a group of websites at once when you need them all. These are easy to share via email and also work between all your Apple devices.
Focus
In iOS 15, we were introduced to Focus, which can selectively stream notifications on your iPhone and turn it off completely when you’re busy. Focus is also coming to MacOS Monterey and works the same. If you indicate that you do not want to be disturbed for a while, you will no longer receive notifications. If you’ve set everything the same between your Mac and iPhone, you can even set both devices to the same Focus mode via your Mac and vice versa.
Quick Note
Save yourself the hassle of copying, pasting, or retyping anything: Quick Note lets you select a chunk of text and put it directly into your notes. This also works for other Apple apps where you want to store important info. Quick Notes will appear as a thumbnail in the app you saved them from, or can be found in your notes.
Universal Control
Are you working on something that needs to be shared between your iPad and Mac? With Universal Control, the devices are connected to each other and you can just drag them from one to the other. Your mouse cursor also works on your iPad and your iPad functions as a kind of second screen. Sharing from other devices to your Mac is also possible with AirPlay.
Live Text
MacOS Monterey also gets a familiar feature from iOS 15: recognize text in photos. Select text in photos and save it, find it or even put it as a location or number in your contacts or notes.
maps
Finally, today we stick to the new version of Maps. Apple is hard at work building new maps that can make cities more beautiful in the app than ever with 3D effects.
They are working hard on this feature for the largest cities in the world, so it will take a while before they also integrate Roelofarendsveen (if that ever happens). You will already receive the new layout of Maps.
Much more
Furthermore, MacOS Monterey brings a host of other features. You can enjoy all this and more starting October 25, so keep an eye on your updates page.
