Is it just me or is there really not that much new and exciting in Monterey?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Monterey seems pretty meh.
- Thread starter SW3029
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You're right, however I don't think that's the point of this years release.
The jump from Catalina to Big Sur was a big one. By comparison it was a lot more exciting than Monterey, but not every release can bring about major interface & system changes year-in year-out.
I expect the next couple of macOS releases to be more incremental in nature, like Monterey. Not every year will fetch bucket loads of new and exciting features - and that's a good thing.
When you consider Apple's latest OS's are buggy enough without the plethora of headlining new features (iOS 15 I'm looking at you), I'd actually prefer them to dedicate a few releases to just being smaller, Snow Leopard-esque refinements to the OS. First and foremost it's just that, and it's functionality should come first.
Me personally, I'm just happy I can permanently show the menubar in full screen mode
Been wanting that feature since Lion.
Monterey includes Shortcuts app. Just that feature makes Monterey pretty exciting.
Also, you can now easily convert files, and easily convert JPEG files into HEIC, or an HEIC to PNG.
I’m sure there are more little -and big- things inside Monterey.
I fully agree with you. However, I’d say internally, the big jump was on Catalina. Then, the UI big jump was on Big Sur. But yeah, the next upcoming years the new versions will be merely incremental.You're right, however I don't think that's the point of this years release.
The jump from Catalina to Big Sur was a big one. By comparison it was a lot more exciting than Monterey, but not every release can bring about major interface & system changes year-in year-out.
I expect the next couple of macOS releases to be more incremental in nature, like Monterey. Not every year will fetch bucket loads of new and exciting features - and that's a good thing.
When you consider Apple's latest OS's are buggy enough without the plethora of headlining new features (iOS 15 I'm looking at you), I'd actually prefer them to dedicate a few releases to just being smaller, Snow Leopard-esque refinements to the OS. First and foremost it's just that, and it's functionality should come first.
Me personally, I'm just happy I can permanently show the menubar in full screen mode
Despite all of that, just for Shortcuts and Universal Control, Monterey is already a very interesting release.
My main "problem" with this update is that it's mostly not an OS update. It's mostly updates to other Apple apps and updates to use other hardware with your Mac. Shortcuts is really the only thing I'm excited about. And, I agree, does make it worth the update.
But when most people are talking about Safari, Facetime, Messages, Notes, etc. I just don't really care. Same with Universal Control and Airplay. First off, Airplay should have been available years ago on the Mac. And Universal Control only matters if you happen to have a second Mac (or iPad) just sitting around that is compatible with Monterey. Just not useful for 99% of their users.
I could go on, but don't feel like going through all of the "updates" and complaining about all of them.
But when most people are talking about Safari, Facetime, Messages, Notes, etc. I just don't really care. Same with Universal Control and Airplay. First off, Airplay should have been available years ago on the Mac. And Universal Control only matters if you happen to have a second Mac (or iPad) just sitting around that is compatible with Monterey. Just not useful for 99% of their users.
I could go on, but don't feel like going through all of the "updates" and complaining about all of them.
whining is great, isn't it? do people not understand that OSes move forward mostly under-the-hood? that, how an OS behaves is infinitely more important than new features, or GUI changes to, for example, safari (which i like, btw)...
monterey is running fast and stable here... which matters to me, so i can run the apps i need well (many of them apple defaults).
anyway, this years whining is just last years whining revisited. just subsitute, "big sur" for "monterey". and, in a year, "monterey" for whatevers next. and so on and so on...
monterey is running fast and stable here... which matters to me, so i can run the apps i need well (many of them apple defaults).
anyway, this years whining is just last years whining revisited. just subsitute, "big sur" for "monterey". and, in a year, "monterey" for whatevers next. and so on and so on...
Those who have been around for a while will understand this…
What we are witnessing with macOS is the transition away from an era. Apple is currently somewhat limited in how many things they can push because they are going through an architectural shift. I’m guessing the next macOS update will be the last as Intel products are being sold. We will have our “Snow Leopard” release in 4-5 years. Apple Silicon only, refined.
What we are witnessing with macOS is the transition away from an era. Apple is currently somewhat limited in how many things they can push because they are going through an architectural shift. I’m guessing the next macOS update will be the last as Intel products are being sold. We will have our “Snow Leopard” release in 4-5 years. Apple Silicon only, refined.
can you clarify? have been on macs since 1995, and don't get it. limited how? monterey runs beautifully on my GF's new pro (she got it this morning). it also runs beautifully on my intel macs. so... what's the problem, exactly?
OK, I gotta say this, the desktop background is awful. Apart from that it seems OK.
I’m glad they didn’t put in anything crazy since it ships with the revamped MacBook Pro line and I ordered one. Hate having to wait for weeks but by the time it’s delivered, maybe they’ll have the bugs sorted out. As for new features, I think live text is neat.
I'm actually very happy with it. The addition of shortcuts is great as well as the little minor tweaks they added. My iMac zips along with it too and everything runs smoother. Its not a major upgrade but all of the new features are welcome additions and anytime Apple makes my machines run faster I'm all for it.
Personally I'm pretty satisfied on Monterey even if the majority of the good features isn't on my late 2015 iMac. It fixes some bugs I had for 2 years and I'm glad to have the Focus mode now to be fully functional across all my devices and shortcut app is also very useful.
I don't really expect much for desktop OS nowadays. These operating systems (macOS, Windows) are matured since a long time now and updates are just some refinements or a couple UI changes here and there just to keep things fresh. Seriously, I don't really have any new idea of what a desktop OS could do more or way better than what we have now.
I don't really expect much for desktop OS nowadays. These operating systems (macOS, Windows) are matured since a long time now and updates are just some refinements or a couple UI changes here and there just to keep things fresh. Seriously, I don't really have any new idea of what a desktop OS could do more or way better than what we have now.
It's a bit odd. And it's a shame that the OS-specific landscape photography has gone. Was there nothing picturesque to shoot in Monterey?
Agree, the most exciting thing is the background ... ugly as f-ck 😄
I did choose a bunny as my user pic, logged in again and entered the pw, and the bunny smiled ... omg macOS turned into an os for idiots sadly, nearly threw out the mac !
I would skip it directly, no interesting features for me that worth the upgrade and there will be potential bugs with each dot upgrade. I think macOS need a feature-less release focused in stability, performance, fixing bugs and UI refinement. Big Sur is still buggy, and we are at the end of the cycle. :/
No, it's the same for me. It works just fine so far, but with previous major releases there have been things I've been excited to take a look at. After I installed Monterey, that was it. It works. Okay. But there wasn't anything I wanted to check out, nothing new I thought I would like to use.
big sur was not buggy for everyone, and i doubt we'll ever see a 'feature-less' OS. monterey here (since the betas, and now on the official release), is fast & stable, on both of my macs...
It doesn't have to be un-meh, just solid enough. The more transformative changes to macOS tend to happen, I think, in even-numbered years.
So I don't want to get down some speculative path since we don't know exactly what apple has in mind, but one clear example would be what they can do in terms of the old idea of your operating system "booting" or "restarting" so often. I believe the macbooks will be always on devices such as your iPhone/iPad. The battery life is already there for those machines to support something like this and apple having full control of the system at this point I don't see how this is not the standard once Intel is completely out of the picture.
They better not take away our startup chime though or I will file the change.org petition myself.
honestly, am more confused than before. and the startup chime can be turned on or off in system preferences (i've had that 'off' on my macs since forever...)
lol I am just joking since people were so mad when Apple took it away a few years ago. I think this was in 2016.
But yeah essentially a truly always on device, maybe some additional graphical effects or tasks that can better be handled by the gpu on the operating system itself since we have such a leap in terms of performance in that area over Intel igpu. Potentially integrating cellular across all models etc.
Very exciting times for the mac ahead IMO. The only thing that kept me back from the new notchbooks is the lack of Face ID. Once that is in, I am in.