macOS Monterey missing features: What’s missing from the public beta and Intel Macs?

Apple has released the public beta of macOS Monterey and so it’s available for anybody to test providing your Mac meets the macOS 12 system requirements.

The usual beta recommendations apply – don’t install it on a device you need every day or rely on. Here’s how to install it if you’re game.

But there is a key missing feature from the public beta and that’s Universal Control, the ability to use a Mac’s trackpad or mouse across other Mac screens and iPads, too. We saw a demonstration of this during Apple’s developer keynote (at WWDC 2021) last month and it uses elements of Apple’s other technologies that enable your devices to work together like Continuity and Handoff.

It’s also similar to Sidecar, the tech that enables you to use your iPad as a second display for your Mac. 

Developers also haven’t had access to Universal Control within the betas they’ve had but presumably this will arrive for testing in the next couple of months ahead of a release later in the year. 

Additional Monterey features on Apple Silicon

What Apple also hasn’t really talked about is that macOS Monterey will offer Apple Silicon users – those with Apple M1 rather than Intel-based Macs – quite a few extra features. 

Although there is a clear reason to try and upsell Mac owners to new M1-based models, Apple may not have talked too much about this as we’re led to believe that some new Macs with Intel processors are still on the way, potentially higher-end iMacs and Mac Pros with Xeon processors. And it won’t want those Macs – costing several thousand dollars – to seem out-of-date on release. 

Here are all the features that Apple lists on its macOS Monterey preview pages as not working on Intel-based Macs running macOS Monterey. Some of these make more sense than others – why would the Maps features not be possible on Intel, for example? But a lot of these clearly make use of the M1’s neural processor. 

Portrait Mode

Inspired by Portrait mode on iPhone and powered by the M1 chip, this new video effect puts the focus on you — not what’s behind you.

Live Text in photos

Your Mac now lets you interact with text in any image. Click an address and it opens in Maps. Call, message, or save any phone number you see. You can copy and paste just as you would with any other text. And personal details and information from images never leave your device.

All-new city experience

Explore cities with unprecedented detail for roads, neighborhoods, trees, buildings, and more. Visit amazing 3D landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge in both the day and dark mode maps.

Interactive globe

Discover the natural beauty of Earth with a rich and interactive globe. Explore new enhanced details for mountain ranges, deserts, rain forests, oceans, and more.

On-device dictation

Keyboard dictation improves as you use your device, personalizing over time. On-device dictation helps protect your privacy by performing all processing completely offline. Dictation in search uses server-based dictation. 

Continuous dictation

With on-device dictation, you can dictate text of any length without a timeout (previously limited to 60 seconds).

Neural text-to-speech voice in more languages

The latest neural text-to-speech voices are now available in more languages: Swedish (Sweden), Danish (Denmark), Norwegian (Norway), and Finnish (Finland).

Also check out our main guide to the new OS: Apple macOS 12 Monterey: Release date, features, and more