There was too much at WWDC for me to fit into a single post, so I’m going to divide my coverage into a few separate posts. This is about MacOS Monterey. I have more coverage on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and the rest.
2021’s macOS update is called Monterey, and while last year’s Big Sur offered a big visual update, this year’s update is much smaller. This year bring more interoperability with iOS and iPadOS. One of the “standout” features was a demo where a user can move their mouse cursor between a Mac and and iPad without needing any special software, it is supposed to just work. Users can also just copy/paste information between devices like they would between apps on a single device. It’s a neat demo that will see some use among a subset of the userbase, but not something world changing.
Macs will also be able to be used as Airplay targets, which I could actually see use for in homes without TV’s or other big displays. Siri Shortcuts are also coming to the Mac for the first time, though this does mean that the popular power user utility Automator will eventually be going away. Other iOS features like FaceTime group sharing and QuickNote are making their way over as well.
The big feature of macOS Monterey is a redesign of the Safari web browser. The UI of the browser has been overhauled to what the company calls a cleaner, more minimal look. The the tab bar and address bar are now merged into one row, clicking on a tab allows you to use that individual tab as the address bar, for example. Most of the menus and options have been hidden away behind more mouse clicks, and the browser features tab groups, which is exactly as it sounds, it allows you to create groups of tabs that you can switch between. Those tab groups are synced between devices, as the iPad and iPhone versions of Safari are getting a similar overhaul.
I’ll need to try this new look Safari myself, but at first blush, I don’t like it. It seems too minimal to be useful, and has the potential to be form at the expense of function.
MacOS Monterey is available as a developer preview today with a Public Beta coming in July. The final release is expected in the fall.
Unlike the rest of the announcements today, there are some devices getting left behind from last year. While the 2015 MacBook, 2013 MacBook Air, late 2013 MacBook Pro and 2014 iMac could all run Big Sur, they will not get Monterey. The following devices will support MacOS Monterey.
iMac (late 2015 and later)
iMac Pro (2017 and later)
Mac Pro (late 2013 and later)
Mac Mini (late 2014 and later)
MacBook Pro (early 2015 and later)
MacBook Air (early 2015 and later)
MacBook (early 2016 and later)