Beginning October 25, Apple Macbook laptops and desktop variants will start getting macOS Monterey as a free update, the Cupertino-based technology giant announced Monday. The launch of the successor of macOS Big Sur was first announced in June. Initially, it was limited to beta builds on some systems, but now it has a stable release date. macOS Monterey has features that will deliver a more fluid experience to users of Apple devices.

Apple launched new MacBook Pro variants with the macOS Monterey at the Apple Unleashed event on October 18.

macOS Monterey features

macOS Monterey brings with it a number of behind-the-scenes changes to enhance user experience. Its biggest update is Universal Control that allows users to shuttle between an iPad and a Mac seamlessly using the mouse and keyboard. The user can drag and drop content back and forth using the Universal Control feature. It can be operated with an Apple Pencil, which will help the user bring sketches from the iPad to a Keynote slide on Mac.

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The new macOS Monterey also adds AirPlay to Mac, which enables users to present, play, and share content from iPhone or iPad to the Mac without using a wire. Similarly, one can use Mac's sound system as an AirPlay speaker for audio and visual content.

With Quick Notes on macOS Monterey, the user can take notes while browsing a website.

The operating system also comes with Shortcuts that helps automate tasks on Mac. The Shortcuts feature was launched on iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 in 2020. macOS Monterey, however, has a dedicated Shortcuts Editor for Mac with which users can customise shortcuts as per their choice.

Apart from this, the macOS Monterey update will have a new Safari browser and Tab Groups to help users save and manage multiple tabs.

FaceTime will also get new improvements with a new grid view and spatial audio support.

The SharePlay feature can be used to share TV shows, movies, music, and projects with others within a FaceTime call.

Devices that are eligible

A host of Apple devices will support macOS Monterey update, including those that were launched years ago. Apart from the new Macs and MacBooks, the update will be available on iMac that was released in 2015 and later, iMac Pro that came in 2017 and later, MacBook Air from early 2015 and later, MacBook Pro that was released in early 2015 and later, Mac Pro that came in late 2013 and later, all Mac minis from late 2014 onwards, and all MacBooks from early 2016 onwards.

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Apple will not force users to upgrade with the new macOS Monterey. Users can, therefore, wait for feedback from those who get it first.

(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)