macOS Monterey (also called macOS 12) is now rolling out to everybody with a suitable Mac. If you will have an early 2016 or newer MacEbook, early 2015 or newer MacEbook Air, early 2015 or newer MacEbook Pro, late 2014 or newer Mac Mini, late 2015 or newer iMac, the late 2017 iMac Pro, or late 2013 or newer Mac Pro, you’ll be able to dive in.

Once you’ve downloaded and put in the free replace, right here’s what to strive first.

1. Write Notes More Quickly 

The Notes app in macOS Monterey will get an improve with the addition of Quick Notes, a pared-down word taker that you should utilize with out opening Notes itself. You can create a Quick Note from anyplace with a keyboard shortcut (Fn+Q), by deciding on textual content, or by shifting the cursor to the underside proper nook of the display whereas holding down Cmd.

2. See FaceTime Group Chats As a Grid 

Apple isn’t happy that you just’ve been spending all of your video-calling time on Zoom, so it’s providing you with a Zoom-like interface possibility for FaceTime group chats—you even get the illuminated field across the present speaker, as on Zoom. It’s known as Grid Layout and also you’ll see it out there as a view in your different Apple gadgets the place FaceTime is supported.

3. Supercharge Your Shortcuts 

Shortcuts was launched in iOS 12, and with Monterey it makes its method to macOS as properly. The app works in kind of precisely the identical manner on a Mac: Launch Shortcuts and you’ll mix a number of actions into one single command, whether or not that’s making a GIF from a video, making a timer to make use of for breaks, beginning a video name, or no matter different process you must automate.

4. Use Your Mac As an AirPlay Speaker

After you put in Monterey, your Mac can then act as an AirPlay speaker. If you’re enjoying audio out of your iPhone, for instance, you’ll be able to select AirPlay output and decide your Mac from the checklist. It may even work as a part of a multi-speaker setup. Use the Sharing tab in System Preferences to configure the AirPlay Receiver possibility.

5. Use Your Mac As an AirPlay Display

The similar AirPlay trick works for mirroring and increasing shows in addition to streaming audio. Again, you’ll be able to open System Preferences and select Sharing, then AirPlay Receiver to activate the characteristic. One manner to make use of it could be to place a presentation from an iPhone up on an iMac, or stream a Fitness+ class out of your telephone to your Mac’s bigger display.

6. See Which Apps Are Using Your Mic and Webcam 

The small dots that warn you when your mic and digicam are literally in use are actually useful on iOS, and macOS Monterey will get a mic indicator to go alongside the inexperienced webcam mild already current on Macs. When the microphone is in use, you’ll see an orange dot subsequent to the Control Center icon on the menu bar—click on the icon to see which app is utilizing the mic.

7. Say Hello

Open up System Preferences after which select Desktop & Screen Saver and Screen Saver, and also you’ll see there’s a model new addition to the checklist. An elegant screensaver known as Hello has arrived, and in keeping with Apple, it “celebrates the history and progress of Mac” and refers again to the very first Mac that displayed the same “hello” message on display.

8. Explore Cities in More Detail

Apple Maps is getting extra detailed and interesting visuals in sure giant cities, with the identical replace rolling out throughout a number of of Apple’s 2021 software program updates—together with macOS Monterey, so long as you’re on a Mac with an M1 chip. San Francisco is an effective place to begin exploring the brand new views: Look for the spotlight icons on landmarks in 3D mode.

9. Extend MacEbook Battery Life

MacBooks (2016 and later) get a brand new Low Power Mode with the arrival of macOS Monterey, which does precisely what you may count on: reduce a number of the further bells and whistles in your laptop computer so the calls for on the battery are decrease. From System Preferences, select Battery after which Battery or Power Adapter. Low energy mode is out there on each.

10. Maintain Your Focus

As with iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8, macOS Monterey has a brand new Focus device. You’ll discover it by clicking the Control Center icon on the menu bar. Think of it as an enhanced model of Do Not Disturb, so you’ll be able to set particular notification choices for eventualities at residence and on the workplace (like finding out, gaming, sleeping, working, and so forth.).

11. See What’s Been Shared With You

Most of the important thing Apple apps, together with Photos, Apple Podcasts, Safari, and Apple News, are getting a brand new Shared With You part that you would be able to look out for in macOS Monterey. Essentially that is only a manner of shortly attending to something that your contacts have despatched you thru the Messages app, whether or not that’s trip photographs, a hyperlink to an article, or a podcast advice.

12. Save Tab Groups in Safari

Keep your bunches of tabs collectively within the new tab teams characteristic in Safari. To get began, Cmd+click on on a tab and select Move to Tab Group, the place you’ll be able to decide an current group or create a brand new one. You can arrange your tabs in no matter manner works finest for you, and by default your tab teams will present up on the left of the Safari interface for straightforward entry.

13. Reduce the On-Screen Clutter in Safari

Speaking of Safari, you’ll discover that it’s obtained fairly a radical redesign for macOS Monterey: There’s a streamlined tab bar that modifications coloration to match the pages that you just’re at the moment viewing, there’s an built-in good search discipline constructed into the tackle bar, and also you’ve additionally obtained a redesigned sidebar for managing your bookmarks, shared hyperlinks, and extra.

14. Share Video, Audio, or Your Screen

Eventually, macOS Monterey will allow you to observe movies and hearken to music with different individuals over FaceTime, in addition to share the rest that’s on the display of your Mac. It’s known as SharePlay, however on the time of writing Apple has pushed its launch back, so that you’ll nonetheless have to attend for the characteristic to roll out after the preliminary launch of the brand new OS.

15. Work Seamlessly Across Macs and iPads

Universal Control is without doubt one of the headline options of macOS Monterey, although we’re unsure exactly when it will arrive (later this fall is what Apple is saying). The characteristic will allow you to use one Mac keyboard and trackpad (or mouse) to manage different Macs and iPads subsequent to it (on the identical wifi and utilizing the identical Apple ID), as if they have been related shows. Files might be dragged and dropped between gadgets, too. This is one we will’t wait to strive.