Several macOS Monterey Features Unavailable on Intel-Based Macs

[cmaier]

Budgetary constraints on resources is certainly an acceptable and understandable reason. However for corporations as large and rich as Apple, that argument falls on its face. Of course they can do whatever they want, and we are free to complain about it and not purchase their products either.

It’s not even a budgetary issue. Apple put hardware on its chip to make it easy to do these things. Why should they bother going to the engineering effort to make it work on hardware without those new features? It’s a waste of time - those engineers have better things to do.

 

[Jonas07]

I find funny how people defend their M1 machines when next year they are going to be in the same boat, less features and slower “learning super nasa physics machine” for maps and a video call 🤣🤣🤣.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Then don’t upgrade…personally, I have zero problems with the updates to Safari in Monterrey, what’s your deal? Because you don’t want them?

The upgrades to Safari are a textbook example of change for the sake of it, while simultaneously burying useful controls in contextual menus.

That is not desirable for many people on a desktop class browser.

I'm remaining hopeful that a lot of the change ends up being optional.

To answer your other point - I prefer using Safari across my Apple devices for things like continuity and browser history/bookmarks all being in sync.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

How else are they going to get people to buy the new machines.

I can't think of a reason for the chip to be required. I mean, sure, there are chips that zap through encryption like nothing, but the same encryption can be cone on a smaller, slower system. The excuse seems weak, but I'll read more and maybe it will make sense?

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Next year, Apple will troll the typically macrumors hardcore community member and add one new wallpaper to macOS 13, but only on M-series Macs.
And the macrumors hardcore community member will rage and say how outrageous this is and how he always wanted that wallpaper and how he has to buy an new Mac, just to get that wallpaper. 🥺

 

[Jonas07]

It’s not even a budgetary issue. Apple put hardware on its chip to make it easy to do these things. Why should they bother going to the engineering effort to make it work on hardware without those new features? It’s a waste of time - those engineers have better things to do.

Maybe because they still sell intel machines, like the Mac Pro, the MacBook Pro, iMac, etc... maybe because the world use intel instead Apple architecture, maybe to keep compatibility with future release etc, I mean it’s a trillion company it’s not a garage company with Stan as enginner and Karen as receptionist.

 

[ikir]

While there are many great new features in macOS Monterey, several of them are not available on Intel-based Macs, according to Apple.

On the macOS Monterey features page, fine print indicates that the following features require a Mac with the M1 chip, including any MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac model released since November 2020:

• Portrait Mode blurred backgrounds in FaceTime videos

This is a card straight out of the Steve Jobs era of Apple. They used to lock new features to new hardware despite proof that they could almost always run on the older hardware. One feature that comes to mind is OS X 10.5 and iChat 4's Photo Booth effects being limited to Core Duo or newer and completely leaving out PowerPC users. Eventually there was a third party app that enabled this feature for PowerPC users. And let's not forget about Siri being limited to iPhone 4S or newer despite it previously being available on older iPhones as a third party app before Apple bought Siri out.

Not that simple. Performance, polish is importante too.

 

[cmaier]

Maybe because they still sell intel machines, like the Mac Pro, the MacBook Pro, iMac, etc... maybe because the world use intel instead Apple architecture, maybe to keep compatibility with future release etc, I mean it’s a trillion company it’s not a garage company with Stan as enginner and Karen as receptionist.

Would you prefer that they stop selling the machines so people who don’t need these new features but do need Intel compatibility can’t buy them anyway? Does that solve anyone’s problem?

 

[Jonas07]

Would you prefer that they stop selling the machines so people who don’t need these new features but do need Intel compatibility can’t buy them anyway? Does that solve anyone’s problem?

Yes, like the 99% of Apple users these days.

 

[cmaier]

Yes, like the 99% of Apple users these days.

What does that mean?

 

[Jonas07]

What does that mean?

it means Apple should put efforts on their intel machines and include the new features even tho it requires more stuff to do since the majority of Apple users still use intel processors. The M1 was released less than a year ago.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

It’s not even a budgetary issue. Apple put hardware on its chip to make it easy to do these things. Why should they bother going to the engineering effort to make it work on hardware without those new features? It’s a waste of time - those engineers have better things to do.

Plus, if you’re an industrious developer that could be working anywhere, do you want to port features back to Intel OR work on the new M1 stuff?

 

[gaximus]

Really? We're talking about a feature that can be implemented in JavaScript, and you think it's understandable for Apple's implementation to be so big and bloated that it can't work without dedicated tensor processing hardware? You must have a very low opinion of Apple's engineers. 😅



That's a little different. Nobody expects Apple to implement a reverse Rosetta just so people can run iOS apps without recompiling.

Same can be said about Apple implementing a Javascript Version of something that would not be as good or power efficient as their native Swift version on dedicated hardware. Apple always chooses no experience over a subpar experience.

 

[turbineseaplane]

How about the trillion dollar Death Star puts some money into fully supporting both platforms it currently sells?

C’mon...let’s hold them to a higher standard

 

[ADGrant]

So far as iMac goes, the choice today is less features on a 27 or more features on a 24. I assume by final release there will be a 27 (or bigger) option that will have access to the new features.

Not really true. Today the 27" Mac has features the 24" does not. For example, it has an SD card reader, 4 USB-A ports, the option of built in 10GB ethernet, AMD Navi GPUs and the ability to run all Windows apps including AAA game titles. It can also run x86 Linux VMs.

The 24 has the option of Touch ID on the keyboard which is cool and it has the Apple Neural engine which gives it access to most of the features mentioned. Not sure why Apple Silicon is needed for the more Advanced Apple Maps but I think the Mac version of the App is a Catalyst app ported from iOS.

Unfortunately for me, my iPad Pro has older Apple Silicon than my Intel iMac (A( vs the A10 based T2) so I doubt I will get many of those features on my iPad either. Time for a new iPad perhaps.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

How else are they going to get people to buy the new machines.

With fluff features? They should have blocked off some WAY more important features if they wanted to get people to buy the new machines.

Is there anyone that wants to spin an Apple globe SO badly that they’re looking to buy a new Mac?

 

[cmaier]

it means Apple should put efforts on their intel machines and include the new features even tho it requires more stuff to do since the majority of Apple users still use intel processors. The M1 was released less than a year ago.

They are putting a ton of effort in. 99% of new features in Monterey work 100% on intel. But it’s silly to say they shouldn’t add new features to new macs.

 

[cmaier]

How about the trillion dollar Death Star puts some money into fully supporting both platforms it currently sells?

C’mon...let’s hold them to a higher standard

The death star is AT&T. Anyone in tech knows that.

 

[ADGrant]

An interactive 3D globe doesn't require a neural network to display. Google Earth has had a 3D interactive map for almost fifteen years.

They NEVER have to explain anything - it's their choice. However, just because that is the case doesn't mean that people can't be rightfully angry about it.

Apple is selling devices TODAY that aren't capable of the full set of features in their latest OS release. This isn't a "we finished our transition to Apple Silicon - these new features will only be available for Apple Silicon Macs." This is them continuing to sell Macs starting at $1800 USD that will immediately become obsolete as it relates to running the full software stack.

That's not to say that some of this stuff does seem to require Apple Silicon support - like live text, etc. But that doesn't mean consumers can't be angry about this.

I guess Apple's excuse will be they are relying on Apple Silicon only Metal APIs which is ridiculous of course.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Budgetary constraints on resources is certainly an acceptable and understandable reason. However for corporations as large and rich as Apple, that argument falls on its face. Of course they can do whatever they want, and we are free to complain about it and not purchase their products either.

I agree with your second point about not purchasing, but even companies with loads of cash must still prioritize resources time, etc. You can't magically pull qualified developers and project/product managers out of thin air to double your capacity.

 

[gaximus]

Are you sure they won't cancel? The globe is just one feature. There will be many more. Who would buy an Intel Mac now?

Thats a good question, I'd hate to be a business that needs to replace a high-end intel machine right now, knowing that it'll will stop being supported much sooner than the replacement M2 Macs that Apple will release in less than a year.

 

[Jonas07]

They are putting a ton of effort in. 99% of new features in Monterey work 100% on intel. But it’s silly to say they shouldn’t add new features to new macs.

Well they need to put efforts in quality instead gimmicks features for only a few machines since big sur is bugged and Monterey won’t be the exception.

 

[cmaier]

What we seem to have here is either a bunch of people who, ignoring good sense, bought intel machines with their last dollar and are sad that they will miss out on features, or people from a generation with a massive sense of entitlement.

 

[cmaier]

Well they need to put efforts in quality instead gimmicks features for only a few machines since big sur is bugged and Monterey won’t be the exception.

Big Sur is *far* less buggy than Catalina. What bugs are still troubling you in Big Sur?

And, if you are concerned about bugs, you’d probably be in favor of apple concentrating on just ONE architecture. A lot easier to avoid bugs when you don’t have to deal with a massive number of hardware configurations and divide your efforts between two architectures.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

How about the trillion dollar Death Star puts some money into fully supporting both platforms it currently sells?

C’mon...let’s hold them to a higher standard

Let’s as in “Let Us?” The ONLY way anyone’s really going to hold Apple to anything is with their dollars. If you’re able to get the millions of people that will buy their first Mac ever this year to NOT buy… in order to demand support for a system they don’t own…

I guess that’s one way to spend your day. Might even be successful?