In a virtual presentation at the WWDC 2021 conference on Monday, Apple executives outlined the company's plans for macOS Monterey, the latest major s

Apple announces macOS Monterey, the next Mac desktop operating system

submited by

Style Pass

2021-06-07 23:30:12

In a virtual presentation at the WWDC 2021 conference on Monday, Apple executives outlined the company's plans for macOS Monterey, the latest major software release for the Mac family of computers.

MacOS Monterey introduces a new feature called "Universal Control," which allows users to share control of Mac and iPad devices with a single mouse and keyboard. Apple SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi demonstrated the ability to simply set an iPad near a Mac, move the cursor of the latter toward the former, and have the iPad automatically recognize it. This means users can directly drag and drop files between devices, for instance. Apple demonstrated the feature across an iMac, MacBook, and iPad.

macOS Monterey will also make it possible to AirPlay video, audio, documents, and other items from an iPad or iPhone directly to a Mac. The update brings the Shortcuts feature first seen on iPhones and iPads, allowing users to access IFTTT-style automated tasks and workflows on the Mac. Apple says the existing Automator app will continue to be supported with Monterey and that users will be able to import existing Automator workflows into Shortcuts.

Safari will receive something of a makeover with Monterey, bringing a thinner and visually cleaner toolbar alongside more compact tabs. Active tab bars will now house the traditional URL and search fields, and tabs can now be grouped together and accessed through Safari's sidebar. These tab groups can then be accessed and updated across Macs, iPhones, and iPads.