Apple has finally put us out of our misery and confirmed Universal Control for macOS Monterey will be delayed until “later this fall.”
The new feature, which lets you seamlessly control a Mac and iPad with a single keyboard and mouse, has been missing from most macOS Monterey betas. It has popped up in more recent builds, but it still cannot be activated.
macOS Monterey will launch without Universal Control
Apple confirmed on Monday after its big “Unleashed” event that macOS Monterey will make its official debut on October 25 — at which point it will be free to download and install on all compatible machines.
We had wondered whether Universal Control, which recent appeared for the first time in Monterey’s System Preferences, but still couldn’t be activated, would be ready for the update’s launch later this month. Now we know.
Apple has refreshed its macOS Monterey features page to confirm Universal Control is delayed and won’t be available until “later this fall.” It will likely roll out in a macOS 12.1 update (Monterey’s initial release is 12.0.1).
Universal Control compatibility
When it does finally appear, Universal Control will be compatible with the following devices:
- MacBook Pro: 2016 and later
- MacBook: 2016 and later
- MacBook Air: 2018 and later
- iMac: 2017 and later
- iMac Pro: 2018 and later
- Mac mini: 2018 and later
- Mac Pro: 2019
- iPad Pro: Third-gen. and later
- iPad Air: Third-gen. and later
- iPad: Sixth-gen. and later
- iPad mini: Fifth-gen. and later
Both devices must also be signed into the same iCloud account — with two-factor authentication enabled — and can be connected either wirelessly if they’re within 10 meters of each other (with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Handoff enabled), or by using a USB-C or USB-C to Lightning cable.
