During its annual WWDC conference this year, Apple had announced several features, one of which had been Universal Control for its new version of macOS – macOS Monterey, as well as iPadOS 15. Universal Control was slated to let users use their Mac’s mouse or trackpad to control the cursor on an iPad or another Mac’s screen, reaching into and across multiple devices. This would allow users to effortlessly work across several screens and Apple products wirelessly.
Earlier this month, Apple released the macOS 12.1 beta 4 for developers and public testers, which led many to hope that the Universal Control feature, which had been conspicuously absent during the beta testing and on iPadOS 15, would be arriving soon. However, that does not seem to be the case.
Apple had released macOS Monterey this October (October 25, to be precise), and said that Universal Control and SharePlay would arrive in the fall. Now, we can see that the statement is partly correct – while SharePlay (which will allow you to enjoy entertainment like movies, music, and games synchronized with your friends over FaceTime while you are on your Mac) is now available on macOS Monterey 12.1 (the first major update since its release), Universal Control still eludes us and will continue to do so until sometime in Spring 2022.
macOS Monterey 12.1 has already been released – it is 2.36GB and requires a system restart upon installation. It includes several features such as SharePlay (mentioned above), the new Apple Music Voice Plan, the Photos app gets a new “Memories feature,” safety features in Messages, and fixes for some major bugs.
Apple has officially confirmed the development as it updated its website, and it is speculated that it will arrive with macOS 12.3. A tweet by the Apple Software Updates account read the same. “Universal Control is now scheduled to be released in Spring according to Apple’s website. Probably with macOS 12.3,” the tweet read.
When it does arrive, the Universal Control feature will be available on MacBook and Macbook Pro (2016 and later), the 2019 Mac Pro, Mac mini (2018 and after), iMac Pro, MacBook Air (2018 and later), iMac (2017 and later) and the 5K Retina 27-inch iMac from late 2015. As for supported tablets, the devices are iPad Pro, iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad (6th generation and later), and iPad mini (5th generation and later).
