The macOS Monterey 12.2 release candidate went to developers on Thursday. This makes a full launch only a few days away.
Apple has yet to give an official list of changes in the upcoming version, but beta testers indicate it will offer smoother scrolling on MacBooks with ProMotion displays and a rewritten Apple Music app.
Apple also seeded to developers iOS 15.3 RC, iPadOS 15.3 RC, watchOS 8.4 RC and tvOS 15.3 RC on Thursday.
Possible changes in macOS Monterey 12.2
The macOS 12.2 page of Apple’s developer website has the very unhelpful message that “There are no new release notes for this software update.”
But when beta testing began in December, a tester said that the new version offers “smoother scrolling in Safari on the latest MacBook Pro with ProMotion.” They also said that the Mac-maker is rebuilding Apple Music into “a native Apple Music and TV experience backed by AppKit views instead of web views.”
It’s possible this also includes a fix for a WebKit bug that allows websites to view Mac users’ browsing habits and Google account details. The bug affects Apple’s Safari browser on all devices.
But so far there is still no sign of Universal Control, which was supposed to be a signature feature of macOS Monterey. It’s not scheduled to debut in spring 2022.
Developers, start testing
Release candidates are the last step in beta testing. They’re what Apple used to call golden masters, and give beta testers an opportunity to try out the final version of operating systems before they’re introduced to the general public.
The macOS 12.2 RC shows that Mac users everywhere will be able to install this update in a days — probably next week. In the mean time, though, access to the pre-release versions is only for registered and paying members of the Apple Developer Program. That said, a free public beta of the RC should be out soon.
The next version will replace macOS 12.1, which reached Mac users on December 13, 2021.
