In 2001, Apple introduced Mac OS X, where the X stands for the Roman numeral ten. So it was the tenth major version of its operating system. After ten came not eleven, as you might expect, but 10.1 and then 10.2. Apple kept that up until 10:15, codenamed Catalina. Last year it finally got rid of the 10.x numbering and for good reason. With macOS 11 Big Sur, the appearance was changed quite drastically and it is also the first version of the operating system to run on Apple’s own processor, the M1.
On the eve of WWDC, Apple’s developer conference, the company announced the successor to macOS 11. As with iOS, macOS no longer uses 11.x names; the successor to macOS 11 is called macOS 12. Codenamed Monterey, it’s an update that isn’t as drastic as Big Sur, but it does bring some interesting improvements to macOS.
Developers have been able to install the beta of macOS 12 since the beginning of WWDC, and for the general public, Apple has announced a beta starting in July. Traditionally, the final version of macOS 12 will be available in the fall.
| Remains on macOS 11 Big Sur | Getting update to macOS 12 Monterey | |
|---|---|---|
| MacBook 12″ | 2015-model | 2016 model and newer |
| MacBook Air | 2013/2014 models | 2015 model and newer |
| MacBook Pro | 2013/2014 models | 2015 model and newer |
| Mac mini | early 2014-model | late 2014 model and newer |
| iMac | 2014/2015 models (except late 2015) | late 2015 model and newer |
| iMac Pro | – | All |
| Mac Pro | – | 2013 and newer |
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While Monterey doesn’t appear to have any major changes, some computers that were upgraded to Big Sur will not get the update to Monterey. In the past, Apple has often dropped support for macOS versions that involved major updates, such as the switch to the Metal API in Mojave. That need doesn’t seem to be there now, and Apple didn’t give a reason why the above models aren’t getting an upgrade.
We installed the first beta of Monterey on a 2015 MacBook Pro and a MacBook Air with M1 processor, and in this review we try out the new functionality in the operating system. It’s still beta software, so not everything works as it should yet. However, the stability of the operating system is fine and the main problem we encountered was that some of the features that Apple promised during the keynote are not yet built in.
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