There are a lot of good reasons for upgrading as soon as possible, but there are also a lot of good reasons to wait.<\/b>
\nApple\u2019s latest operating system for the Mac, macOS Monterey, is now available. And while Apple pushes users to upgrade right away, should you? There are a lot of good reasons for upgrading as soon as possible, but there are also a lot of good reasons to wait. If you\u2019re trying to decide, let\u2019s go over those reasons, and we\u2019ll also give you our recommendation. The main reason why you should upgrade now is to get access to most of the new features. If you want new productivity tools, Monterey has Quick Note, Live Text, and Focus. The new Low Power Mode can be very helpful if you have an older MacBook and you spend a lot of time managing battery life. If you have a more current Mac, the AirPlay to Mac feature is a great way to play content from an iPhone or iPad to a Mac. The Shared with You feature is a convenient way to organize the things you save or get sent in Photos, Safari, Apple News, Apple Podcasts, and the Apple TV app. iCloud+ has the Hide My Email feature that allows you to create email aliases for your real email account, HomeKit Secure Video support, and Private Relay (still in beta), which hides your IP address and location while you\u2019re on the web. And the Maps and Books apps are better than ever. Safari also has several new features, and the one that may make you want to upgrade is Tab Groups, where you can organize websites, handy for folks who do a lot of research online. The marquee feature for Monterey right now is Shortcuts. Shortcuts made its debut in iOS, and now the automation tool is on the Mac. If you have a repetitive task that takes multiple steps, you can use Shortcuts to automate the process and save yourself from going crazy. While Monterey still includes the long-time Automator automation app, you\u2019ll find Shortcuts easier to use. Shortcuts made its debut on iOS and was an instant hit. Now it\u2019s coming to the Mac. Apple Besides the new features, Monterey brings a lot of under-the-hood improvements and optimizations, including security updates and optimizations to make the operating system run more efficiently. For more information on how to use the new features, check out our macOS Monterey Superguide. While it\u2019s tempting to jump on the Monterey wave as soon as it comes, but there\u2019s really no rush. Apple will support macOS Big Sur for a while and won\u2019t stop releasing updates for many months. A very good reason to wait is that the true marquee features of Monterey aren\u2019t ready yet. The main feature is Universal Control, which lets you instantly connect an iPad to a Mac so you can use it as a second screen. In Apple\u2019s demos, it works kind of like magic\u2014all you do is place the iPad next to the Mac, and the connection is done automatically. But apparently, the magic still needs to be worked out, because Apple announced that Universal Control won\u2019t be available until \u201clater this fall.\u201d It\u2019s completely missing from macOS Monterey and hasn\u2019t appeared in any of the betas yet. Apple needs more time to make sure Universal Control is ready for Mac and iPad users. Apple The other big feature that isn\u2019t ready at Monterey\u2019s launch is SharePlay. This is the feature where people on FaceTime calls can watch the same TV or movie stream, listen to the same music, or someone can share their Mac screen. Like Universal Control, it\u2019s not available until \u201clater this fall.\u201d (Update: Apple included SharePlay in the 12.1 beta. It could be released in the coming weeks.) If you want the new Safari, you actually don\u2019t need to upgrade to Monterey to get it\u2014it\u2019s part of Safari 15, which is available for macOS Big Sur. To get it, check for updates in the System Update pane in System Preferences. The other main reason you may not want to upgrade now is to avoid bugs. While Apple has a beta program that the public can participate in, the final release to the general public means that there are even more Macs running the operating system, which means bugs may be found that weren\u2019t discovered during beta. macOS Monterey appeared very stable in its latest beta, but bugs can pop up at any time. Apple will likely fix any major ones in a macOS 12.0.1 update within weeks. If you have an older Intel Mac, you should seriously consider waiting for at least the first major update to Monterey. Several posts on Apple\u2019s forums and on Twitter are from users who installed Monterey on older Macs and are unable to run their computers. It seems to be a reoccurrence of a problem that appeared when macOS Big Sur was released last year. Some users have posted that they\u2019ve had success fixing the problem, but the solution isn\u2019t an easy fix\u2014it involves restoring the bricked Mac\u2019s firmware using another Mac. Another issue that is being reported is memory leaks, where an app or function doesn\u2019t release the memory it was using in RAM. Over a short period of time, the amount of memory allocated adds up and takes up a huge chunk of RAM. This is likely a memory allocation bug that will be fixed in an OS update. So avoid this at all costs and wait, especially if you have an older Intel Mac. The version 12.1 beta was released to developers last week, so it should be available in a few days. You can wait for this update, or to play it as safe as possible, wait for a 12.2 update, which probably won\u2019t happen for a few weeks or months. If you\u2019re anxious to get your hands on the new features that are ready right now, upgrading to macOS Monterey should be a smooth experience. It\u2019s not a massive overhaul over Big Sur, and while there may be some new bugs that get discovered after the final release, as we said, Apple tends to issue patches quickly. But if what you\u2019re waiting for is Universal Control or SharePlay, there\u2019s nothing wrong with waiting to upgrade until those features are ready. You also get the added benefit of point-release updates that fix new bugs. Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details.<\/p>\n