macOS Monterey 12.3 Beta 3 Makes Accessing Universal Control Settings Easier - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

macOS Monterey 12.3 Beta 3 Makes Accessing Universal Control Settings Easier

In the third beta of macOS Monterey that Apple released to developers today, there is a small Universal Control update that is designed to make it easier to access the various ‌Universal Control‌ settings that you might need when using the feature to control multiple Macs and iPads with a single mouse/trackpad and keyboard.

universal control 1
If you open up the Displays section of System Preferences after updating to the new software, there is a new "‌Universal Control‌..." button that was first noticed by 9to5Mac. The ‌Universal Control‌ button goes directly to the three ‌Universal Control‌ settings that are available.

universal control 2
Prior to this beta, the ‌Universal Control‌ options were located under the now-removed "Advanced" tab, and were just a bit harder to get to.

The ‌Universal Control‌ settings have not changed, even though their location has been updated. The first two settings are enabled by default and allow ‌Universal Control‌ to work, while the third is optional and can be toggled on to allow you to automatically reconnect to any nearby Mac or iPad you've previously connected to.

‌Universal Control‌ is live in the macOS Monterey 12.3 and iPadOS 15.4 betas available to developers and public beta testers, and it is working well even in a beta capacity. The feature will be available to everyone when the updates see a public release, which could perhaps come in March following Apple's planned March 8 event.

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

54 months ago

Handoff is a bit of a different animal, isn't it. Universal Control involves mouse and cursor control across different Apple devices, whereas Handoff involves passing clipboard data (among other things?) to other Apple devices.
Handsoff is part of/required by UC. You can't turn it off while turning UC on.

UC is the ultimate solution that Apple has imagined, combining Handsoff and AirDrop with the soft-KVM, it makes multiple devices feel like one. So far the experience is so great that I couldn't live without when I have multiple Macs around. I sometime forgot that I'm using multiple Macs now and would try to drag an application window from one to another. Hopefully they can make applications work across devices someday.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️ Avatar
54 months ago

I’m really looking forward to this feature. It’s a great innovation by Apple, and I’m glad they’re taking their time to get it right.
I agree. It’s worth the long wait. Highly anticipated. It’s definitely magical. I seriously can’t wait.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
54 months ago
As I recalled right before the update, the “Advanced” button was in the same spot the “Universal Control” button is now.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
symphony Avatar
54 months ago
I set the third option back to off, because you can't change the side of your other device automatically.

And when I took my iPad to another room and tried to use the cursor gesture to show apps in slide over, I didn't realize my cursor went to my Mac, which made me lose the cursor due to how massive my iMac screen is. I was so confused about what happened to my iPad cursor.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jchap Avatar
54 months ago

Well, those three checkboxes are all that matters, and they are turned on by default iirc. Moving its location hardly matters, and unlike disastrous handoff, this one at least can’t get triggered randomly easily so I’m fine.
Handoff is a bit of a different animal, isn't it. Universal Control involves mouse and cursor control across different Apple devices, whereas Handoff involves passing clipboard data (among other things?) to other Apple devices.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
54 months ago
Welcome changes. Looking forward to seeing it in the final version.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Related Apple News: Health | World News | Reviews | Iphone | Entertainment