Enhanced cooperation between Mac and iPhone! The charm of macOS Monterey

Monterey, the latest version of macOS from Apple. The official release is in the fall, but the developer version was released last month, and the public beta version was finally released last week. I think there are many people who have tried using it right away. Of course, I also tried using the Gizmodo editorial department and the US Gizmodo editorial department. This time, we bring you a review from Caitlin McGarry, a reporter from the Gizmodo editorial department.

MacOS is the slowest Apple operating system for users to update. A lot of people must be 'remind me later' to get past the update notification every time. If you open your Mac and start working and then get a reminder, you'll be doing a good job later. You don't want to stop working to update. You know, so do I. But Monterey is a little different. It's an OS that I want to use even after a troublesome update!

As you already know, macOS 12 (Monterey) works great with iOS 15. Of course, it is a prerequisite to update your iPhone to iOS 15, so let's do both Mac and iPhone at once this time. There are plenty of features that work seamlessly across devices, making your Mac and iPhone feel like extensions of each other.

If mac OS 11 (Big Sur) was the iOS version of the Mac, Monterey is an OS that came straight from the iPhone. The Shortcuts app (which debuted in iOS 14 in 2018 and made headlines for its ability to customize home screen icons) is also coming to the Mac. FaceTime is also a big upgrade, so you can watch videos, share screens, and listen to music together with SharePlay. With Do Not Disturb Mode, you can share push notifications with all your Apple devices. Safari also changed to a design that feels like an iPhone. It's also great that AirPlay is compatible with Mac!

Oh, and I've already been disappointed in the beta, so let's just say it's a universal control. It's one of the few Mac-only features that wasn't in beta. I was told that I could control multiple Macs/iPads placed nearby with just a mouse and keyboard, so I was disappointed as I was looking forward to using the iPad next to the Macs as a second monitor. It was not possible to experience it as soon as possible before the official release.

So it's not a universal control, but Monterey is pretty good. I love living in Monterey. Although it is conditional on updating the iPhone to iOS 15, I think Monterey is a good update with a sense of stability.

How to install macOS 12 (Monterey)

Anyone can try the public beta version. I reviewed it on the M1 iMac, and it was stable and usable. However, since it is a beta version, please take a backup before installing, considering the possibility of bugs. Also, if you have enough space on your device, it is safer to install it on a device other than the one you must use every day, just in case it becomes unusable.

Before installing, first check if your device supports Monterey. There is an official list of compatible devices, iMac late 2015 or later, iMac Pro 2017 or later, MacBook Air/MacBook Pro early 2015 or later, Mac Pro late 2013 or later, Mac mini late 2014 or later. , for MacBook models from early 2016 onwards.

Once you've checked out your device, enroll it in Apple's Beta Software Program (requires an Apple ID) and you're ready to install.

The main function of iOS 15 is on the Mac

I tried FaceTime's SharePlay and focus mode on iOS 15 first, but the usability on the Mac is almost the same. Of course, even if the functions themselves are the same, the terminals used are different, and the environment and work content are also different, so the impressions of the functions will be slightly different. Focus mode notifications, for example, didn't feel as effective as they did on my iPhone. Because I only use Mac for work, the software I use is based on work. In other words, (other than Slack for business communication), you don't get popping notifications frequently. Unlike my smartphone dependence, I didn't have to worry about being dependent on my work desktop.

FaceTime's new features are good for Macs too. However, I feel that screen sharing is a bit subtle. I could not find the control for screen sharing, and when I wanted to stop sharing, I couldn't immediately turn it off (I had to hang up once). It's a bug in the public version, so I hope it's fixed in the official release.

I often use Portrait Mode in FaceTime on my iPhone and iPad, but Portrait Mode on the iMac's 1080p front camera was on another level. From now on, video conferencing will be the only choice for this (portrait mode). It's nice to be able to use portrait mode not only with FaceTime, but also with third-party video calling apps! (For M1 Mac only).

Using the share with you function of the message app, it is also convenient to check the contents (links, images, etc.) sent by your friends in the shared area with you (supported apps only).

iOS 15 and Monterey combo makes iPhone and Mac more seamless than ever. It doesn't go as far as changing the world view of the Mac, but the overall usability improves considerably by linking between terminals.

The new Safari is still better on the Mac

To be honest, I think the design change of Safari in iOS 15/iPadOS 15 is the worst, but for some reason it feels a little better on the Mac. Unlike the iPhone, the address bar doesn't move depending on whether you're typing or not, so that alone is pretty good. I don't like the tabs that match the color of the website because it's hard to understand, but once you get used to it, you can't help thinking that you use light mode and dark mode depending on the page. By the way, this feature can be turned off, so if you don't like it, turn it off.

I'm also worried that the tab and address bar are aligned in the same center. Kind of cramped impression. It's also a good idea to organize them in tab groups. I like that tab groups are available from the Safari sidebar.

Personally, I can't understand the specification that the reload button disappears. I found a hack where if you hover over the oval More menu next to the sidebar, a reload button will appear, but it doesn't have to disappear in the first place. Is there anything that should disappear? I think many people are confused by this specification.

Good AirPlay!

(While saying that, I really want to use universal controls faster!)

Apple's AirPlay 2 is a convenient feature for casting from Apple devices to Apple devices. I personally use it a lot to cast to Apple TV or AirPlay enabled speakers. You couldn't cast from iPhone to Mac until now, but now you can with Monterey.

Do you have this first? I thought. Even if you don't cast music with AirPlay, you can open Apple Music or Spotify. Even if you don't beam YouTube to your Mac, you can watch YouTube in your Mac's web browser. As for Apple, it was appealing to fly the iPad drawing app to the Mac screen with AirPlay, so I tried it. Mirror graffiti on iPad Pro to Mac. Graffiti display in real time, no lag.

If you want to use AirPlay on your Mac, I think Apple's workout service Fitness+ is effective. It's nice to be able to cast a workout class you want to take from your iPhone to your Mac so you can work out while watching the big screen. I actually tried it, but there was a little trouble with the audio. And the class I chose was AirPlay only for audio.

I can AirPlay from Mac to Mac, but I don't have the courage to put a beta OS on all my devices, so I haven't tried this yet. I think I'll give it a try when the official release comes along with the universal control.

By the way, AirPlay support between Macs is only for models after 2018. The idea of ​​casting an unused device as a sub-monitor depends on the model of the device.

Available for the itch

Many people say that Monterey is by far the most thoughtful of macOS these days. In other words, there are many features that are small but bring big improvements to the Mac. The Shortcuts app on the iPhone makes automation on the Mac easy, and Quick Memo, which allows you to take notes immediately no matter what app you're doing, is extremely convenient for someone like me who has a to-do list.

On the other hand, factory resetting is now as easy on Macs as it is on iPhones and iPads. It's really easy to remove all the troublesome procedures such as disk utility and erase everything from the environment setting.

In addition, there are also functions only for M1 terminals such as text recognition display. I also liked the Visual Lookup feature, which allows you to find out what is in the image.

After just a quick look, I'm already pretty happy with Monterey. I'm persistent, but if universal control is added to this, I'm sure the satisfaction level will go up even more. I can't wait for the official release.