Apple Announces macOS Monterey With Shortcuts App, Updated Safari Browsing, 'Focus' Do Not Disturb Features, and More

[Ansath]

ok, but where is the MacBook Pro where I will be using all those features?

Here: macbook-pro-13

With a larger screen M1 MacBook Pro to be announced in October like the one above was last October.

all of those "analysts" who predicted new mbps should stop being analysts. Worse then weathermen

No-one reptutable stated there would be new MacBook Pro's, in fact those leakers with a good track record explicitly said no new hardware. Just that some gullible people fell for it and blew it up.

And they could do that without releasing a 'whole' new OS. (Safari at least they updated it)

And I don't get why they dropped support for 2013 and most 2014 Macs.

There will be quite a lot under the hood. Front facing features is not an indicator of version numbering.

As for dropping older Macs, they want to move people onto the new M1 Macs, get away from Intel.

 

[seek3r]

Question is, does MacOS Monterey bring Airplay 2 to the system? (not just in apps like Music in Big Sur)........

I hope so but at this point I'm just assuming no :/

 

[Ansath]

I hope so but at this point I'm just assuming no :/

I can't bite the bullet with hopping on the MacOS beta train yet. So hoping someone will see.

 

[maverick28]

So, Automator is no more? Will one be able to convert existing workflows to Shortcuts or are we left with no choice but simply abandoning them?

 

[Ansath]

So, Automator is no more? Will one be able to convert existing workflows to Shortcuts or are left with no choice but simply abandoning them?

As per keynote and many news articles, automator is still supported & can import. My guess, it will be phased out next year or later.

Apple also noted that users will be able to import existing Automator workflows into Shortcuts, and Automator will remain supported.

Shortcuts App Coming to Mac, Automator Will Remain Supported

During its announcement of macOS Monterey today at WWDC, Apple also revealed that the Shortcuts app is coming to macOS this year. The company said...

www.macrumors.com

 

[Not@Apple]

From the demo it looks to me that you are controlling the devices screen with the mouse and keyboard from the main machine, rather than sharing the display. The programs are run on the individual devices. You can drag and drop files, but it doesn't look to me as though you can drag apps.

It's not clear at the moment though.

Keyboard, mouse and/or trackpad... But I wonder about Apple Pencil support?

 

[ultrafiel80]

So if "Airplay to Mac" is basically the same as the old "Target Display Mode" then I'm on board to upgrade as soon as possible. I just want to put my work MacBook Pro next to my personal iMac and use the iMac as an extended screen of the MBP. That would/will be amazing! Hopefully the lag isn't too bad, I'll have to see what kind of reviews come out for this feature.

 

[Babygotfont]

macOS Monterey Jack.

MacOS Monterey Jack Cough

 

[Bluetoot-]

That FaceTime group is diverse in every way but clothing. Dress with some pizzazz; it's the summer!

Edit: now the SharePlay group is what I'm talking about, but I doubt anyone is that jazzed to watch Ted Lasso.

 

[Apple_Robert]

What an absolute disaster this WWDC presentation was. No new Macs either which means it's an epic Fail.

It could be your false expectation was the cause of the perceived disaster. I think it was very good even though I probably won't use some things mentioned.

 

[Apple_Robert]

A lot of Mac models dropped again. Too bad.

I don't think 2015 as a cut off is bad.

 

[TheSynchronizer]

This is 100% my highlight of this keynote by far, and I'm happy for it to be that way and not any other as I consider my mac to be my most important device second only to my phone.

The Universal Control and AirPlay additions look amazing. Low Power Mode on the mac seems like it will definitely save my day some time in the future. Spatial audio, iMessage upgrades, new Safari.. overall very pleased with this update especially in comparison to the others.

 

[SSDGUY]

With Apple's new Universal Control, I wonder if they'll get into a name trademark battle with Presonus Audio Electronics. They've used the name for many years for their hardware-to-DAW interface.

 

[jchap]

That is a good thought. I don't see why it wouldn't replace Sidecar.

Sidecar is basically a technology for extending the display of your Mac to a device such as an iPad. On the other hand, Universal Control doesn't seem to extend the display, but rather allows you to navigate between independent displays on different devices, as if you were operating one device. Subtle but big difference.

In other words, an iPad connected to a Mac using Sidecar basically functions as an external display; whereas an iPad connected to a Mac using Universal Control still functions as an iPad, with upfront access to the iPad home screen and all its apps and features. That was my takeaway from the presentation, anyway.

 

[jchap]

I always find it amusing when people complain that Apple needs to slow development down on macOS to focus on bug fixes and other quality of life stuff. And then when Apple does exactly that (with Monterey), people complain that it's a lackluster release. 🤷‍♂️

Agreed. They didn't seem to talk much (or at all) about how much more robust, reliable and bug-free the OS has become, though, from what I could catch by listening to the keynote. I'm not sure if Monterey should be considered as a "Snow Leopard" to "Leopard" in that regard.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Sidecar is basically a technology for extending the display of your Mac to a device such as an iPad. On the other hand, Universal Control doesn't seem to extend the display, but rather allows you to navigate between displays on different devices as if they were one device.

In other words, an iPad connected to a Mac using Sidecar basically functions as an external display; whereas an iPad connected to a Mac using Universal Control still functions as an iPad, with upfront access to the iPad home screen and all its apps and features. That was my takeaway from the presentation, anyway.

If that is the case, then I misunderstood that part of the presentation as I got the notion the ability was as I posted.

 

[jchap]

And they could do that without releasing a 'whole' new OS. (Safari at least they updated it)

And I don't get why they dropped support for 2013 and most 2014 Macs.

Most likely, they dropped support because Monterey requires greater processing power for new AI-driven features like the new features in Photos, Live Text (which requires rapid behind-the-scenes OCR and image crunching technology) as well as processor power-hungry Universal Control. The list goes on, I imagine. Apple most likely tests the new OS on different hardware configurations before they create that list of supported machines.

More than the face lift, it's what's going on behind the scenes on the new OS that determines what machines are out there now that can truly support it.

 

[jchap]

If that is the case, then I misunderstood that part of the presentation as I got the notion the ability was as I posted.

It is indeed a little confusing, but based on what they listed in the detailed feature list online (https://www.apple.com/macos/monterey-preview/features/), it does seem to be more than just extending the displays to other devices.

 

[jchap]

As per keynote and many news articles, automator is still supported & can import. My guess, it will be phased out next year or later.

Shortcuts App Coming to Mac, Automator Will Remain Supported

During its announcement of macOS Monterey today at WWDC, Apple also revealed that the Shortcuts app is coming to macOS this year. The company said...

www.macrumors.com

Phasing out Automator entirely would be problematic for a lot of workflows that rely on it, I imagine.

 

[Apple_Robert]

It is indeed a little confusing, but based on what they listed in the detailed feature list online (https://www.apple.com/macos/monterey-preview/features/), it does seem to be more than just extending the displays to other devices.

Thanks for the correction. I appreciate it. I made several posts today stating the same. Sorry to those who read my incorrect post. I am not going to wade through my 100+ posts right now to edit them. lol

 

[jchap]

Thanks for the correction. I appreciate it. I made several posts today stating the same. Sorry to those who read my incorrect post. I am not going to wade through my 100+ posts right now to edit them. lol

Yes, it's indeed difficult to really figure out how the new features work until we get our hands on them.

I also second your opinion that many of the features are interesting but not particularly relevant to my use case. With each new OS release, I usually find about one or two main new features that I get some degree of mileage out of. I do realize that the world's filled with all kinds of people who use their Macs and other devices in a variety of ways. What's really useful to some may be just trivial or "fluff" to others.

Also, I liked your comment regarding the fact that these are already mature operating systems, so there's only so much that they can do to really push the envelope. Well, in theory, the sky's the limit...

 

[Apple_Robert]

Yes, it's indeed difficult to really figure out how the new features work until we get our hands on them.

I also second your opinion that many of the features are interesting but not particularly relevant to my use case. With each new OS release, I usually find about one or two main new features that I get some degree of mileage out of. I do realize that the world's filled with all kinds of people who use their Macs and other devices in a variety of ways. What's really useful to some may be just trivial or "fluff" to others.

Also, I liked your comment regarding the fact that these are already mature operating systems, so there's only so much that they can do to really push the envelope. Well, in theory, the sky's the limit...

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate the feedback as well as your personal use perspective.

 

[jchap]

Low Power Mode on the mac seems like it will definitely save my day some time in the future.

Yeah, I don't know how it will be implemented, but we can hope that Low Power mode will be of some help in tight situations when we need to eke just that much more battery power out of our Macs.

Based on what I've seen on products like Parallels Desktop that use a form of low power mode, though, I'm not sure that your machine will be eminently useful while running in that mode. Maybe for low-power processing tasks like sending out that last e-mail before your battery gives up the ghost, it could be helpful; but it may make some apps grind to a slow crawl. We'll have to actually see how it's implemented in the public release.

 

[PatriotInvasion]

Sidecar is basically a technology for extending the display of your Mac to a device such as an iPad. On the other hand, Universal Control doesn't seem to extend the display, but rather allows you to navigate between independent displays on different devices, as if you were operating one device. Subtle but big difference.

In other words, an iPad connected to a Mac using Sidecar basically functions as an external display; whereas an iPad connected to a Mac using Universal Control still functions as an iPad, with upfront access to the iPad home screen and all its apps and features. That was my takeaway from the presentation, anyway.

So with Universal Control, each device will operate with independent app instances and only cursor control transfers. But, won't true extended desktop/target display mode come through the new inclusion of AirPlay 2 to macOS?

For example, I can extend my MacBook Air's desktop to my TV with Apple TV 4K. Presumably you'll now be able to do this between Macs. Perhaps resolution won't be native and there will be some slight latency, but all of that may be acceptable in an iMac + MacBook Air setup where the MBA is used as a secondary display.

 

[jchap]

So with Universal Control, each device will operate with independent app instances and only cursor control transfers. But, can't true extended desktop/target display mode come through the new inclusion of AirPlay 2 to macOS?

For example, I can extend my MacBook Air's desktop to my TV with Apple TV 4K. Presumably you'll now be able to do this between Macs. Perhaps resolution won't be native and there will be some slight latency, but all of that may be acceptable in an iMac + MacBook Air setup where the MBA is used as a secondary display.

Hmm, I would think that it would be an either/or situation, where you either choose to extend the display (in the case of Sidecar and AirPlay, as I understand it) or else retain the independent app displays of each device and then navigate/copy/paste between them with your mouse, trackpad or other pointing device via Universal Control.

We'll have to actually check it out to see how it works, but from what Apple demonstrated in the keynote and listed on their website, the independent app modality of each device is likely respected as-is with Universal Control.

If someone's running the beta already and can test this, it'd be good to hear about it.