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MagyarUniversal Control comes to life in iPadOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3 with seamless integration across iPads and Macs
Apple has finally introduced Universal Control, an iPadOS and macOS feature that it unveiled at WWDC 2021 in June. While never officially delayed, Apple had included the wording 'available later this autumn' under Universal Control on its macOS Monterey website. However, in December, it changed that wording to 'available this spring' once it had issued macOS 12.1.
Now, Apple has enabled Universal Control in iPadOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3, both in beta. According to MacRumors and Federico Viticci, Universal Control works in one of two ways. On the one hand, you can share your mouse and keyboard across devices, allowing you to jump between devices without moving away from your current input methods. On the other hand, Universal Control supports seamless file transfer between devices and even the option of moving app windows between devices.
Apple explains that there are a few caveats though, including that you can only start Universal Control from a Mac. Also, you cannot use the Magic Keyboard for Touch ID across iPadOS and macOS. In saying that, Touch ID or Face ID still work when using Universal Control. Additionally, Universal Control supports up to three devices; two Macs and an iPad, or a Mac and two iPads.
According to Apple, iPadOS and macOS will support Universal Control on the following devices:
- iMac (2017 or later)
- iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch) (Late 2015)
- iMac Pro
- iPad Pro: all models
- iPad (6th generation) or newer
- iPad mini (5th generation) or newer
- iPad Air (3rd generation) or newer
- MacBook Pro (2016 or later)
- MacBook (2016 or later)
- MacBook Air (2018 or later)
- Mac mini (2018 or later)
- Mac Pro (2019)
Holy wow Universal Control is incredible.
— Federico Viticci (@viticci) January 27, 2022
This is me moving between a MacBook Pro, an iPad mini, and an iPad Pro using just the MacBook trackpad and keyboard. It's aware of position, lets you drag files, and supports iPadOS gestures.
The hype was real and it all just works ???? pic.twitter.com/PWUTLYZtkW
