Should I upgrade to macOS Monterey?

macOS 12 Monterey is now available to the public and it comes with a range of new features and changes. But you may be wondering, should I upgrade to macOS Monterey on my Mac now? Read on to figure out what the best option is for you.

Some of my favorite gear

Apple home key Aqara Smart Lock

Upgrade your lock with Apple home key, HomeKit, and fingerprint smarts.

macOS Monterey was seen as quite stable overall during the beta testing period from June until October. The biggest controversy came from the various iterations of Safari that we saw Apple experiment with before returning to a more subdued and traditional default experience and design.

Other than that, a couple of the other disappointments have been Universal Control being pushed back, some Monterey features being limited to Apple Silicon Macs, and RAM management issues that have hopefully been ironed out in the beta process.

• Here’s the full list of Macs compatible with macOS Monterey
• macOS Monterey: Here are the features exclusive to M1 Macs

Should I upgrade to macOS Monterey?

• TL;DR: if you have any concerns about app stability, performance issues, and other bugs, hold out at least for the next bug fix update (or maybe even a later update depending on your stability tolerance)
  • For reference, macOS 12.0.1 is the initial launch release
• If you have critical apps that must work, make sure to check for Monterey compatibility before upgrading and of course remember to make a fresh backup
• If you’re cool with the possiblity of initial bugs and issues (likely minor), go for it!
• But if you still have concerns, install Monterey on a secondary Mac if you have one – or hold off for now

Finally, you could opt to install the new OS on a separate APFS volume or create a bootable macOS Monterey USB drive (steps for Big Sur should work for Monterey too):

• How to install macOS Big Sur on a separate APFS volume [Video]
• How to create a bootable macOS Big Sur USB install drive [Video]

And whether you’re upgrading today or are holding off for now over bug and compatibility concerns, here’s our comprehensive look at everything new with macOS Monterey: