According to Apple, some of the many new features in macOS Monterey will not be available for Intel-based Macs.
It's no surprise, and it's also to be expected, but for all users who still use computers with Intel and will be able to install macOS Monterey, it's painful to see that they are definitely starting to lag behind.
On the macOS Monterey features page, the fine print indicates that the following features require a Mac with the M1 chip, including MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac released November 2020:
- Blurred backgrounds in Portrait mode in FaceTime videos
- Live text to copy and paste, search or translate text within photos
- An interactive 3D globe in the Maps app
- More detailed maps for cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and London in the Maps app
- Text to speech in multiple languages, including Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish
- Keyboard dictation on the device that performs all processing completely offline
- Unlimited keyboard dictation (previously limited to 60 seconds per instance)
Apple has not explained why these features will not be available on Intel-based Macs, although it seems likely that this is due the fact that Intel-based Macs do not have the neural engine that many, if not all, of these features require (although, for example, Google has been offering an interactive globe on both the web and the app for many years.)
Macs with M1 chips proved to be much faster than their Intel-based equivalent predecessors.
