The Mac will get another nice makeover this fall with macOS Monterey. We dug into the software and found eight smaller improvements that we’re already looking forward to.
macOS Monterey minor features
Big changes for FaceTime, Safari getting a completely new look: this year, too, the Mac will get a major makeover with macOS Monterey. Because of all those major adjustments, the small improvements that Apple is making are less noticeable. So it’s high time to put them in the spotlight with this overview.
Also read: macOS 12 Monterey official: this is all new
1. Animated Animoji on your home screen
You will see a nice little improvement immediately when you start macOS Monterey for the first time. Instead of a static image, you can now choose an animated Animoji of yourself. This moves just like you see on an iPhone and makes the login screen look less static. A pure look change with little functionality, but that doesn’t make it any less fun.
2. Change your mouse color
Another external change can be found in the mouse settings. From Monterey it is possible to change the color of the mouse pointer. This option is hidden in the Accessibility settings, and for good reason. For example, it may be more convenient for people with a visual impairment to give the line around the cursor a different color, so that it stands out better. You have two options here: the color of the cursor itself and the color of the line around it.
3. Faster folder search
You have been able to quickly find a specific folder (or folder) on your Mac for years with the key combination CMD + Shift + G if you have a Finder window in view. As of this fall, this search function has been given a new look. Instead of an old-fashioned menu, the design has been modified to be more like the Spotlight search function. As a result, the search results immediately appear on the screen and you can search for every folder you have ever created on your Mac.
4. More insight into copy speed
Waiting for files to be copied is not high on our list of favorite activities. Fortunately, Monterey at least does his best to make it look a bit nicer. As soon as you copy and paste a file, a new window will appear. This shows with a pie chart how far you are and gives you more insight into what still needs to be copied. Also handy: from now on you have the option to temporarily pause copying and resume it later.
5. AirPlay to the Mac
For example, if you bought a 2021 iMac, you can play movies and music on it better than on an iPhone or iPad. So it’s great that Apple is adding the option to send media from your iOS or iPadOS device to a Mac via AirPlay. This turns an iMac into a wireless speaker or TV on which you watch movies and series. As you could read in our iMac 2021 review, we are very pleased with the sound quality of this new desktop, so this feature comes just in time.
6. Power Saving for MacBooks
Not near an outlet but a critical battery percentage? On your iPhone, you can then choose to turn on Power Saving Mode. While this option is still missing on the iPad, the Mac does get the feature from Monterey. As soon as you enable this mode, your Mac will automatically pause processes that consume a lot of energy and let you do as long as possible with the remaining percentage of your battery. That immediately makes it one of the small features that we’re probably going to use the most.
7. Spatial Audio for AirPods
If you have a Mac with the M1 chip from Apple (and therefore without an Intel processor), support for Spatial Audio will come to your Mac this fall. Using AirPods, your Mac can then simulate surround sound by taking into account the movements your head makes. A solution for watching videos, series or movies with headphones. After all, we have already seen how well this function works on the iPhone.
More about macOS Monterey
macOS Monterey is the big Mac update of 2021. The update was unveiled at WWDC 2021 and is already testing for developers. The update will be released for all supporting Macs in the fall, but before then there’s also a period when you can test the update thanks to a public beta.
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These 8 smaller macOS Monterey features are definitely worth checking out
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Video: Watch the WWDC 2021 keynote here