Apple @ Work: The top new features in macOS Monterey for enterprise users

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With macOS Monterey on the horizon soon, businesses will quickly begin looking at their rollout strategy. I know many IT professionals miss the old 18-month macOS upgrade window, but Apple has done a fantastic job of making a macOS upgrade break less over time. Sure there are bugs, but app developers and hardware manufacturers are doing a great job quickly updating their apps. For the past few years, we’ve all gotten into the fall upgrade cycle with all of our devices.

Over the next two weeks, I will take a look at the features in Apple’s upcoming macOS upgrade that will be impactful at work.

About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers has been managing an enterprise IT network since 2009. Through his experience deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a mobile device management system, enterprise-grade Wi-Fi, 100s of Macs, and 100s of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build networks to support them, train users, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for IT departments.

Erase All Content and Settings

System Preferences now offers an option to erase all user data and user-installed apps from the system, while maintaining the operating system currently installed. Because storage is always encrypted on Mac systems with Apple silicon or the T2 chip, the system is instantly and securely “erased” by destroying the encryption keys.

Daily, Erase All Content and Settings will be the most significant feature of macOS Monterey for IT professionals. When a device is ready to be decommissioned, you’ll be able to send a command over your mobile device management system to securely wipe user data from the machine without needing to reinstall the OS. Reinstalling macOS can easily take an hour and requires a manual process, so for larger deployments, Erase All Content and Settings will allow massive time savings.

Apple @ Work: The top new features in macOS Monterey for enterprise users

Keep your FaceTime calls going while simultaneously sharing your whole screen or just a specific app. Collaborate with coworkers, have a game night with friends, or plan your next vacation as a group.
Now you can send friends and family a link to connect on FaceTime — even if they’re using Windows or Android.1 And it’s still end‑to‑end encrypted, so your call is as private and secure as any other FaceTime call.

For smaller teams, the upgrades to FaceTime in macOS Monterey will be an excellent Zoom alternative. Now, you’ll be able to make presentations over FaceTime and invite Windows and Android users to group calls.

While apps like Zoom have a generous free plan, Apple is now putting FaceTime on par with Google Hangouts and Spike Video as simple video chat options.

Will it scale to a 20+ person organization? No, but it’ll be great for small businesses needing to chat with their team and customers. Apple is included scheduled FaceTime links for an event in your calendar, as well.

Focus Tools

Focus helps you stay in the moment when you need to concentrate or step away. Choose a Focus that only allows the notifications you want — you can get work done while you’re in the zone, or enjoy a distraction-free dinner. Pick from a list of suggested Focus options or create your own.

My Mac is where I do 100% of my work, so I am excited about the Focus Tools that Apple is adding to macOS. The idea behind this feature is that you can customize your alerts and notifications based on your work. So, for example, if you want to zone in while you’re doing focused work like writing code or writing, you can pause all notifications from Slack, Email, etc.

Your focus settings will sync across iCloud to all your devices, so if you use multiple Macs or iOS devices at work, you can have access to them. Your status will be automatically displayed in the Messages app so people will know you aren’t ignoring them.

What’s next?

These are what I believe will be the most used features in macOS Monterey. Next week, I’ll look at tools like Quick Note, Low Power Mode, Universal Control, AirPlay to the Mac, and Spatial Audio to see how they’ll be used in the workplace.