MacOS Monterey changes some parts of its software and while it's not the complete visual redesign we saw last year with macOS Big Sur, which also set the stage for Apple's Silicon-powered devices, it's a significant update with some great features.
MacOS Monterey is now available to many Intel users and all Apple Silicon Macs as a free download from the App Store.
Since its launch in October, Apple has also eliminated some bugs and slowdowns, so now you are closer to navigating without problems.
The trend with Apple software this year is consistency with focus and context across iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and Mac. FaceTime and all the new sharing features are under the SharePlay feature and are really impressive, along with a new version of web browsing and a long list of other features: maps, focus modes, messages and live text included.
Wondering if macOS Monterey will be worth the download?
Here are our thoughts on the biggest new features this update brings.
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FaceTime and SharePlay steal the show
FaceTime gets a major facelift in all of Apple's new software updates, including macOS Monterey, and SharePlay is a big part of that. This new feature allows you to share selected content on a FaceTime and enjoy it in real time with friends and family, making it perfect for remote movie nights or listening to music in sync with someone.
SharePlay performed very well in our tests: once we started a SharePlay session with a friend, we were able to enjoy some songs through a FaceTime call.
We were both able to control the music from our respective Apple Music app, and we had the option of adding a song to the queue or playing it right away (think of it as a shared virtual jukebox).
SharePlay works with all of Apple's own applications and is already compatible with third parties.
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FaceTime also finally has screen sharing, allowing you to instantly show someone your desktop through a video call. While Messages previously supported this, now you can have it all hosted from one central app. Screen sharing on FaceTime also worked pretty reliably and felt similar to popular video calling apps like Zoom, WebEx, and Discord. You can choose to share your entire screen or just a specific window, and we had no problem sending or receiving a shared screen. If you're on a FaceTime call with someone connecting through an iPhone or iPad, they can even share that screen with you too.
As with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Monterey also allows you to use portrait mode during FaceTime calls, creating a nice bokeh effect that also blurs out any clutter that may be behind you in your home office. It's comparable to the portrait selfies you'll get on an iPhone and looks better than the background blur you'll find in apps like Zoom and Google Meet, although you'll need a Mac M1 to take advantage of it. Any iPhone that currently supports portrait mode through a camera can also support this (an iPad requires the A12 chip or newer).
As well as adding to the value of FaceTime as a legitimate Zoom alternative is the fact that you can finally FaceTime with people on Android and Windows. The process is super simple - there is now a button called 'Create Link' within the FaceTime app, which you can use to generate a link to your call and share it via text, email, or AirDrop, just to name a few. options. You can even send FaceTime links as calendar invitations in the future, making it easy to plan a meeting.
FaceTime allowed us to join a call from both a Windows laptop and an Android phone after following a link we generated.
Just keep in mind that those on non-Apple devices will use a browser-based version of FaceTime that omits some features, such as the ability to use portrait mode and SharePlay.
AirPlay and Quick Note
MacOS Monterey brings AirPlay to the Mac, allowing you to stream any AirPlay-compatible content (including videos and music from most major applications) directly to your Mac desktop or laptop. This worked quite well in our tests: Once we entered a one-time code to establish the AirPlay connection, we were able to play Spotify tracks and YouTube videos on our 24-inch (M1-based) and 27-inch iMacs by simply pressing the AirPlay button on our phone.
This effectively turned our iMac into a miniature TV that we could send content to without having to touch the mouse and keyboard.
While this feature is compatible with any Mac running Monterey, it is especially suitable for 24- and 27-inch iMac, which have excellent displays and speakers that allow them to function as all-in-one entertainment centers.
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Also new to Monterey is Quick Note, which is exactly what it sounds like.
This feature has a number of uses, including allowing you to highlight a line of text on a website and instantly save an appointment and it is saved directly to Notes.
We were able to do exactly that with a basic right click and "New Quick Note", creating an instant note that was accessible on all of our Apple devices.
You can also hover your mouse in the lower right corner of the screen to activate a Quick Note window.
This feature seems most useful on iPadOS 15, where we often use it to take notes with an Apple Pencil after a quick swipe, but it's still nice to have on Mac for those moments when inspiration strikes.
Safari gets a big glow
Similar to iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Safari received better ones for macOS Monterey. Apple's web browser has a minimalist new look that certainly takes a bit of getting used to, but you'll get some useful features in return. And the good news is, if you don't like the change, you can reverse some of these.
The first thing you'll probably notice is the revamped tab bar at the top, which condenses the typical web browser layout by placing the URL / search field directly within your current open tab.
This means that there is only a thin row of tab icons on whatever website you are on, creating a clean look that we really dig.
We also got used to the new search bar layout pretty quickly - unlike the bottom-facing navigation bar in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, this minimized, up-facing field felt quite intuitive and familiar both to enter. websites like to google.
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Our only minor complaint is with the design of the tabs themselves, which are so minimal that they can blend in with the actual Safari window.
As a result, there were some cases where we accidentally dragged the entire app when we intended to move a tab.
The new design also adapts to the color of whatever website you are on, which is a really nice touch.
When we visited CNN.com, the entire tab bar took on bold black to blend in with the top of the website, while at BestBuy.com it turned the top bar a nice deep blue to match the site's color.
Safari's revamped look is great, but it's the browser's new tab groups feature that really stole our attention. Now you can create multiple groups of tabs that you can easily jump between on the left side of the Safari screen, which is useful for, for example, creating separate groups for work, personal use, or your favorite recipes. Adding a tab to a specific group (or creating a new one) is as simple as right-clicking on it and choosing a group. Once we had a few set up, we could easily jump between several smaller sets of tabs from the left side of the screen, rather than letting our browser flood with dozens of websites on the same page.
Safari's approach to tab groups seems much more useful than what Google Chrome offers.
In the Google browser, you can organize the tabs into groups using, but they all still live in the same vertical row above your browser.
Apple's tab groups work more like separate profiles or folders, allowing you to quickly navigate different sets of websites depending on whether you're in the middle of a day at work or figuring out what to do for dinner.
And like much of macOS Monterey, your tab groups will sync across all of your Apple devices.
Stay focused with four different modes and shortcuts come to Mac
One of our favorite features in iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and macOS Monterey is Focus modes.
Essentially customizable Do Not Disturb settings, these give you control of which notifications, alerts, and even calls come through.
It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to suggest both apps (for notifications) and people (for messages and calls) that sync with any of the modes.
So for personal use you could allow Twitter, Apple News, family and friends.
While you're at work, he'll focus on Slack, Trello, Chrome, and colleagues.
And on the Mac, this is a crucial update, as it can help you stay on top of the task or tasks you have at the moment.
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We want the Mac to embrace custom desktops, similar to how Focus mode can have a dedicated homescreen look on iOS or iPadOS.
In this way, you would keep all your work applications easily at your fingertips, but it would allow you to switch to games and consumption when you enter personal mode.
You would also level up the multitasking game on macOS and it would be similar to the new split view modes that arrived in Windows 11, from Microsoft.
For now though, the dedicated sorting of notifications and alerts is still really useful.
Shared with you, maps and other ordered extras
The new Safari is one of several applications that take advantage of the new Shared With You feature, which makes it easier to view the content sent to you in Messages in their respective applications. Safari's Shared With You tab allowed us to instantly see the large number of website links that friends have texted us in the past few weeks. While the Photos section itself provided a useful place to find the many photos of children and dogs submitted by family members.
Thanks to Live Text, the Photos application can now recognize text within images and interact with it.
For example, we were able to search for store and restaurant names simply by highlighting that part of the image, as well as send an email simply by clicking on a photo of an email address.
It is really impressive and everything is rendered before you even get to the photo.
This feature requires a Mac M1 thanks to the neural engine inside.
In side-by-side testing, Live Text is quite similar to Google Lens in that it is a bit smarter at identifying objects.
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Speaking of interactivity, Maps got some nice updates.
Apple's navigation app is more detailed than ever in Monterey, with an optional 3D view that allows you to better see the relative scale of certain buildings, landmarks, and vegetation as you move.
In our tests, this was useful for viewing specific Central Park lakes and buildings rather than looking at a large green rectangle, or zooming in on a finely detailed version of San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts.
This feature may be more fun than practical for some, but it might prove useful for better routing your way around a busy park or campus.
Let's talk about compatibility
MacOS Monterey will work on most Macs that came out in recent years, but some of its features are limited to Macs with M1 technology.
Specifically, Portrait mode for FaceTime, Live Text for Photos, and spatial audio for AirPods Pro and AirPods Max are limited to the M1 Mac lineup, which currently includes the latest MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and the 24-inch iMac.
Here is a complete list of Macs that support macOS Monterey:
iMac (Late 2015 and later)
Mac Pro (Late 2013 and later)
iMac Pro (2017 and later)
Mac mini (Late 2014 and later)
MacBook (Early 2016 and later)
MacBook Air (Early 2015 and later)
MacBook Pro (Early 2015 and later)
Should i update?
While macOS Monterey doesn't completely reinvent the experience, it does add some really useful new features and quality of life improvements that bring even more value to Apple's current line of laptops and desktops.
FaceTime is the real star of the show here: Between the ability to share your screen, have virtual movie nights with SharePlay, and even video chat with Android and Windows users, Apple's video calling app could be an alternative to apps like Zoom. and Google Meet in some scenarios.
While we're not sure we're going to ditch Google Chrome, Safari's cool new look, highly useful tab groups make it much more enjoyable to use than before.
The arrival of AirPlay makes the latest iMacs even more of a viable TV alternative, while small enhancements like Shared With You and Quick Note only make it easier to find and capture content.
And, as always, almost all of these features sync across Apple devices, making this update especially good for people who switch between their iPhone, iPad, and Mac frequently.
While we're still waiting for the much-anticipated Universal Control feature, macOS Monterey makes Macs even better for video calling, web browsing, and general entertainment.
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