macOS 12 Monterey makes it easy to work across devices

Apple’s ecosystem isn’t just about one device. It’s about finding the right way to work across all the different Apple-branded products on your desk. And with two new features coming soon to macOS 12 Monterey (and, technically, iPadOS 15), it’s getting a bit easier.

Depending on your style of getting things done, you may have a variety of different accessories all around you. One keyboard per device can get pretty cluttered. In an effort to help with that, Apple introduced Universal Control at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference. In addition to that, the company is finally adding AirPlay to Mac.

Here’s what Apple is adding to boost productivity across devices.

With Universal Control, users can easily use one keyboard and one mouse across a range of devices. In Apple’s example, you start with a MacBook Pro right in the middle, with an iPad Pro on the right and an iMac on the left. From there, you can actually use the MacBook Pro’s built-in keyboard on each of those devices. And, just moving the cursor of the mouse over to one of those screens will see the mouse working on one of the other devices, too.

And it works for drag-and-drop, too. You can have something up on your iPad, for instance, and drag it over to your MacBook Pro.

Next up, one of the more oft-requested features finally making it to macOS. With Monterey, Apple is adding AirPlay to Mac. It works exactly as you’d expect, letting users stream content from their iPhone or iPad directly to their Mac. So, if you’re showing off a memory on your phone but want that Retina Display instead, now you can use AirPlay to make it happen.

With AirPlay to Mac, the computer can be used as a speaker, too. Even as a secondary speaker for multiroom audio.

macOS 12 Monterey is launching this fall.