macOS Monterey Beta 4 Brings Live Text to Intel-Based Macs - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

macOS Monterey Beta 4 Brings Live Text to Intel-Based Macs

The latest beta update of macOS Monterey, released to developers today, has brought Live Text functionality to Intel-based Mac computers, removing the requirement for users to use an M1 Apple silicon Mac to utilize the feature, according to Rene Ritchie.

live text macos monterey feature
Live Text, included in the forthcoming macOS Monterey, iOS 15, and iPadOS 15 updates, allows users to interact with text within images, such as phone numbers, addresses, and more. With Live Text, text inside images also becomes selectable, allowing users to cut and copy the text into apps.

Apple at first stated that an ‌M1‌ Apple silicon Mac is a requirement for Live Text on macOS Monterey, but with the latest beta, it's been expanded to Intel-based Mac computers.


macOS Monterey, alongside iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, and watchOS 8, will be released to all users this coming fall. Learn more about macOS Monterey and all of it's new features using our guide.

Related Forum: macOS Monterey

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...
ios 26 4 pastel

iOS 26.4: Top 10 New Features Coming to Your iPhone

Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters. Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or...

Top Rated Comments

zorinlynx Avatar
61 months ago
I'm so glad, because it was absolutely ridiculous that a feature that doesn't have to be real-time was dependent on having a certain CPU. Not only that, but many Intel Macs have beefy GPUs that can do this processing!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
61 months ago

Just a proof that Apple loves to apply senseless limitations solely because of business benefits by planned obsolescence.
The proof of Apple's planned obsolescence is supporting intel Macs with a new feature?

...makes sense.

You realize that Apple itself is in charge of MacOS betas, right? :)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmChimera Avatar
61 months ago

The proof of Apple's planned obsolescence is supporting intel Macs with a new feature?

...makes sense.

You realize that Apple itself is in charge of MacOS betas, right? :)
Yeah this has been bizarre to me. This feature was explicitly said to NOT be coming to intel Macs, and Apple added it anyway and people are mad about it. I don't get it.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wildkraut Avatar
61 months ago

So planned obsolescence... There's no reason why a 2017 or 2019 MBP can't support it. I wonder how many other features Apple has intentionally kept from their machines just to make new machines a more compelling upgrade.

My 2012 (NINE YEARS OLD) Mac Pro runs macOS Big Slur w/o issues. Just had to upgrade the graphics card. I'm not expecting Apple to support 9+ year old computers, but when the hardware is perfectly capable, there's no reason to drop support.
You had to upgrade the graphic card, probably because there was no driver for it. But i bet even your old graphic card would be technically capable of running it without issues.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Dee Avatar
61 months ago
I wonder what’s John Grubers excuse now. I remember him saying, Live Text was only possible because the M1 chip. When it was obvious Apple was just being stubborn about adding support. It would be ridiculous a feature like this would really require the M1 chip. Worse, they are still selling Intel MacBook Pros for the foreseeable future.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
61 months ago
Good! 👍
Now they should do the same for the new M1-only Maps features and those fancy Touch ID keyboards (if Intel laptops can have Touch ID, so can Intel iMacs).
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Related Apple News: Iphone | Lifestyle | News | Reviews | Education