Today, 25th October 2021 is macOS 12 Monterey release day.
I’m not going to list the what’s new but for some Enterprises this time of year the pressure is on. For some companies they may be Day 0 ready and allow users to hit the upgrade button on release but for many Profiles and Restricted Software settings will be in-place along with banners and various communications channels to prevent and inform users not to update but there will be those users who want to either upgrade today or will be wanting a new Mac that will ship with Monterey installed.
Why Not Day 0 Ready?
There are a number of reasons for this, experience suggests it can better to wait for the .1 or the .2 to resolve any initial issues that have not been picked up through the 4 months of beta testing. However, also consider that additional installed software may seem to run OK but is it supported by the vendor.
For example if you use a 3rd party app for virus protection or VPN Connectivity if that app starts causing issues and you raise a ticket with the vendor have they actually stated macOS 12 Monterey is supported or will you ticket just be closed as running an unsupported OS. If it’s the latter then that may give you and your users a bit of headache.
IT Pressure
The pressure to allow macOS 12 Monterey is added to by the release of the new M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro’s, no one will want to buy an Intel MBP now even if you have access to stock but these new MacBook Pro’s and pretty much every Mac you can lay your hands on will now ship with Monterey and they can’t be downgraded. Even if you get a M1 Air with Monterey which last week shipped with Big Sur it should not be downgraded as potentially you are taking it out of any support agreements like Apple Enterprise Support (ACE).
So you have your conundrum of wanting to get the new amazing hardware and Monterey out to users to satisfy their requests but at the same time the potential of running apps that a vendor has not certified yet for Monterey. The best thing to do is communicate to your users, let them know the situation. The last thing you want is M1 Pros or even M1 Max running Monterey and the excitement that brings but then users getting a poor experience because of a crashing VPN client or a security app consuming the CPU!
Possible Solution
The best solution I have found for this for those who can’t wait is to provide an OS and /or hardware pilot. Just make it clear that it’s a pilot, list the apps that are not yet Monterey certified, lust any known issues, keep the pilot small and communications open perhaps via Slack or Teams channel and be on hand to help out at moments notice.
Work with your users, not against them. Let them know their Mac and apps could need updating at the drop of a hat. If you show them you care and are engaged most will help you out as you help them out and that way you will have a much better release ready for mass adoption when you are happy to go.
Worldwide Release Times
Honolulu, Hawaii — 7:00 a.m. HST
Anchorage, Alaska — 9:00 a.m. AKDT
Cupertino, California — 10:00 a.m. PDT
Vancouver, Canada — 10:00 a.m. PDT
Phoenix, Arizona — 10:00 a.m. MST
Denver, Colorado — 11:00 a.m. MDT
Chicago, Illinois — 12:00 noon. CDT
New York, New York — 1:00 p.m. EDT
Toronto, Canada — 1:00 p.m. EDT
Halifax, Canada — 2:00 p.m. ADT
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — 2:00 p.m. BRT
London, United Kingdom — 6:00 p.m. BST
Berlin, Germany — 7:00 p.m. CEST
Paris, France — 7:00 p.m. CEST
Cape Town, South Africa — 7:00 p.m. SAST
Helsinki, Finland — 8:00 p.m. EEST
Moscow, Russia — 8:00 p.m. MSK
Istanbul, Turkey — 8:00 p.m. TRT
Dubai, United Arab Emirates — 9:00 p.m. GST
Delhi, India — 10:30 p.m. IST
Jakarta, Indonesia — 12:00 midnight WIB next day
Shanghai, China — 1:00 a.m. CST next day
Singapore — 1:00 a.m. SGT next day
Perth, Australia — 1:00 a.m. AWST next day
Hong Kong — 1:00 a.m. HKT next day
Seoul, South Korea — 2:00 a.m. KST next day
Tokyo, Japan — 2:00 a.m. JST next day
Brisbane, Australia – 3:00 a.m. AEST next day
Adelaide, Australia — 3:30 a.m. ACDT next day
Sydney, Australia — 4:00 a.m. AEDT next day
Auckland, New Zealand — 6:00 a.m. NZDT next day
