Just as I was figuring out all of the coolest new features that came with macOS Big Sur I get a notification on my MacBook Pro this morning that I have a 12GB system update ready for me. Contained within this massive update is the first public beta release of Apple’s latest operating system. Continuing the Apple tradition of naming each new version after beautiful locations in California the latest version is called macOS Monterey.

Now considering I only installed this a few hours ago, this post is not intended to be a review of the new operating system. Rather it is intended to provide some insights on what features Apple is rolling out, as well as some background info on some of the joys of participating in beta programs. Let’s go ahead and start with the latter. The reason I have the time to write this post the first day Monterey was released is because Microsoft’s Remote Desktop app crashes every time I open it. This means I can’t access my remote computers or my VM to get the work I need to do. I also cannot connect to any of the VPNs I use daily to access other remote resources. Now fortunately I anticipate these issues will be rectified very shortly in a patch update, and I try not to be too salty on the first day of release. This does however lead to a very important point, it is NOT recommended to run beta software on your daily driver, for the exact reasons you read above. I am lucky that we have an M1 Mac Mini we use as a server that is still running Big Sur so I’m going to be just fine. 

Enough of me venting about beta software because its a self inflicted wound, let’s take a look at what features Apple is adding to macOS Monterey:

We will start with the big ones, both the Messaging app and the FaceTime app are getting overhauls on macOS and it’s pretty easy to summarize what to expect. They are just making them both more ‘Zoom-like’ or ‘Teams-like’ for our Microsoft Teams users. This includes a grid view with multiple participants, file and screen sharing capabilities, and other capabilities to make it a more collaborative space for groups. 

Another internal app that got a makeover was Safari. I realized I am probably in the minority here as pretty much everyone uses Chrome, but I definitely noticed this one right away. My biggest comment would be things don’t seem to be where I left them, specifically the new tab management does not feel intuitive at all. But I can’t argue with the simplicity of having all my favorites and browsing history at my fingertips on any device (not a new feature). The last thing of note with Safari is tied into what Apple calls “iCloud+”. Let’s say I sign up for something through an app and use my iCloud email address, one feature iCloud+ currently offers is it will hide my real email address from that app developer which protects me in the event of a data breach. The latest feature added to iCloud+ is now available on Safari in macOS Monterey and it’s called “iCloud Private Relay”. If you know what a VPN does, that’s basically what this is. (If you don’t know what a VPN is, check out our video explaining them here!). Quick summary of what this does, it takes your IP address as you browse the web on Safari, and sends it through ‘relays’ that scrambles it along with any other data websites use to profile and track you. It is certainly a step in the right direction for privacy, however, done in typical Apple fashion as VPN Chrome extensions have already existed for a while, Apple just brought it in-house and called it something different.

There are a host of other new features that are on there with macOS Monterey but these were the main ones I wanted to highlight, as well as give you some insights on what it’s like beta testing macOS for Apple. If you are interested in the full list of features Apple is releasing with macOS Monterey you can view that here. If you’re interested in learning more about beta testing Apple software please feel free to reach out to comment below or reach out to me and I would be happy to chat!

https://www.apple.com/macos/monterey-preview/features/