macOS 12.3 arrives with Universal Control and spatial audio features

Nine months after Apple first showed off the Universal Control feature, it's now available after the company rolled out macOS 12.3 and iPadOS 15.4. The tool, which is in beta, allows you to control a Mac and iPad at the same time with a single keyboard and mouse (or trackpad). You can enter text on either device and drag files between them. Apple initially said Universal Control would be available last fall, but in December it delayed the release until this spring.

Apple has enhanced spatial audio on M1-powered systems as well. Apple Music now has dynamic head tracking support for compatible AirPods. You'll find settings for fixed and head-tracking spatial audio in the Control Center.

You can express yourself in more ways with dozens more emoji. As Emojipedia notes, these include a melting face, troll, disco ball and hands forming the shape of a heart. The handshake emoji now has separate skin tone options for each hand too.

Also new in macOS 12.3 is a less-gendered voice option for Siri, more filters for the Podcasts app, optional notes for saved passwords and (Apple claims) more accurate battery capacity readings. In addition, the macOS update enables Italian and Traditional Chinese translation for webpages in Safari and support for adding, removing and querying tags with Reminders in Shortcuts.