The time has come. You can now download the macOS Monterey public beta on your Mac. It's not an overly complicated process, but we're here to walk you through it and if you need it, a place to get extra help. All the best Macs are compatible with macOS Monterey.
Apple occasionally offers updates to iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS as closed developer previews or public betas. While the betas contain new features, they also contain pre-release bugs that can prevent the normal use of your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, or Mac, and are not intended for everyday use on a primary device. That's why we strongly recommend staying away from developer previews unless you need them for software development, and using the public betas with caution. If you depend on your devices, wait for the final release.
What's new in the macOS Monterey public beta?
June 15, 2022: Apple releases macOS Monterey 12.5 beta 3 to public testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey 12.5 beta 3 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
May 19, 2022: Apple releases macOS Monterey 12.5 beta to public testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey 12.5 beta for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
May 12, 2022: Apple releases macOS Monterey 12.4 RC to public testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey 12.4 RC for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
May 3, 2022: Apple seeds the macOS Monterey 12.4 beta 4 to public beta testers
The fourth macOS Monterey 12.4 public beta 4 is now available to download. Follow the instructions below to download and install the newest software update.
The fourth macOS Monterey 12.4 developer beta also includes an extra element: the second Studio Display 15.5 developer beta. It's currently unclear exactly what the firmware update for the Studio Display will do, but it hopefully will attempt to continue to improve the camera.
April 19, 2022: Apple seeds the macOS Monterey 12.4 beta 2 to testers
The second macOS Monterey 12.4 public beta beta is now available to download. Follow the instructions below to download and install the newest software update.
April 6, 2022: Apple releases macOS Monterey 12.4 public beta 1 to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey 12.4 public beta 1 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
March 1, 2022: Apple releases macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta 5 to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta 5 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
February 23, 2022: Apple releases macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta 4 to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta 4 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
February 16, 2022: Apple releases macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta 3 to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta 3 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
February 9, 2022: Apple releases macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta 2 to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta 2 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
January 28, 2022: Apple releases macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta to testers
Apple has released the macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
December 17, 2021: Apple releases macOS Monterey 12.2 public beta to testers
Apple has released the macOS Monterey 12.2 public beta for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
November 10, 2021: Apple releases macOS Monterey 12.1 public beta 2 to testers
Apple has released the macOS Monterey 12.1 public beta 2 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
October 7, 2021: Apple releases ninth macOS Monterey public beta to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey public beta 9 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
September 29, 2021: Apple releases eight macOS Monterey public beta to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey public beta 8 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
September 21, 2021: Apple releases seventh macOS Monterey public beta to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey public beta 7 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
August 31, 2021: Apple releases sixth macOS Monterey public beta to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey public beta 6 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
August 11, 2021: Apple releases fifth macOS Monterey public beta to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey public beta 5 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
July 28, 2021: Apple releases third macOS Monterey public beta to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey public beta 3 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have the macOS public beta installed, head to System Preferences > Software Updates and download away. If you've been waiting for macOS Monterey to get started with macOS testing, now's the time to grab it!
July 16, 2021: Apple releases second macOS Monterey public beta to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey public beta 2 for members of the Beta Software Program.
June 30, 2021: Apple releases first macOS Monterey public beta to testers
Apple has released macOS Monterey public beta 1 for members of the Beta Software Program.
How to make a backup of your Mac
Before joining the public beta, you need to make a backup of your Mac. That way, if something goes wrong, or if you're not happy and want to revert to macOS Big Sur, you can go right back to where you started.
Even if you back up every night, you'll want to make double, triple sure you're covered. So make a manual backup now. Here's how to do it with Time Machine. If you use something different or additional, like SuperDuper!, make sure you manually start a backup now.
- Click on the Time Machine icon in your Mac Menubar.
- Click on Backup now.
Let the backup finish before proceeding.
Note: If you're not averse to the Terminal, you can also make a bootable macOS Big Sur installer as a way to jumpstart reversion, if needed.
How to register your account for the latest macOS public beta
If you've already joined a public beta for macOS in the past, you don't need to register again for macOS Monterey. Sign in with the same Apple ID. If you've never joined a public beta before, you'll need to start by signing up with your Apple ID.
- Go to beta.apple.com in Safari on your Mac.
- Click on Sign up to get started. (If you've already signed up for a previous public beta, Click on Sign in and skip to "How to enroll your Mac" below.)
- Enter your Apple ID email address and password.
- Click Sign in.
Once you're signed up and signed in, it's time to start downloading.
How to enroll your Mac in the latest macOS public beta
Downloading the macOS Monterey public beta is done through System Preferences in the Software Updates.
- Go to beta.apple.com, if you're not there already.
- Click on the macOS tab if it's not highlighted already.
- Click the Download macOS Public Beta Access Utility button.
- Open the file from your Downloads window.
- Double-click the package to run the installer.
When the installer is finished downloading, System Preferences will automatically open to the Software Updates section. Click Update to download and install the public beta software. After the software has been downloaded, your Mac will automatically restart.
If the latest public beta does not appear on the Updates list, restart your Mac. Then, open System Preferences and click the Software Updates pane.
The public beta update can take a long time to finish downloading, depending on the size. You can check the status in the Software Updates preference pane of System Preferences.
How to install the latest macOS public beta
The macOS public beta installer will automatically open when it's downloaded. If it doesn't, or if you prefer to do it later, you open Install macOS Public Beta at any time via Spotlight or Launchpad or from the Application folder in the Finder.
- Launch Install macOS Public Beta app if it's not launched already.
- Click Continue at the bottom.
- If prompted to make a backup and you didn't before, click Continue in the drop-down. If you just made a backup, click Cancel.
- Click Continue at the bottom once your backup completes or if you skipped it.
- Click Agree to accept the licensing terms.
- Click Agree again to confirm.
- Click on the drive you want to install onto (if you have multiple options, most people won't.)
- Click Install.
- Enter your administrator password and click OK.
- Click Restart (if your Mac doesn't restart automatically, or you don't want to wait).
Once your Mac reboots, it'll be running the macOS public beta. There's a brief bit of setup you'll need to go through, however, as the system will have changed enough that it'll need your login to complete the update.
Once that's done, you'll be ready to rock macOS Monterey.
How to update to a new version of the macOS public beta
To download updates of the macOS public beta from now on:
- Open System Preferences from your Dock or Applications folder.
- Click Software Update.
- Click Update Now if there is an update available for your Mac.
- Click the checkbox next to Automatically keep my Mac up to date if you want your Mac to download and install software updates in the future automatically.
