PUBLIC BETA

GAIN EARLY ACCESS TO CUTTING-EDGE NEW FEATURES

Apple will release the next generation of iOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS in less than a month’s time, but that hasn’t stopped millions of consumers and tech fans from installing the public beta to access new features ahead of time. If you’re excited to get your hands on the all-new Safari, Universal Control and FaceTime improvements, the beta could be for you.

UNDERSTANDING THE BETAS

Every year, Apple holds its now iconic Worldwide Developers Conference, also known as the WWDC or dub-dub, where it shows off the exciting changes it’s been making to the world’s most popular operating systems. Immediately after, developers can get their hands on an early build of the software so that they can test out the features and see how it’ll work with their apps. Developers must register to be part of the program and pay the arbitration fee of $99 per year, but it offers them the early builds of the new release which might be buggy. In comparison, the Beta Software Program offers consumers the chance to get their hands on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS 12 Monterey, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15, and whilst beta testers will still likely run into some bugs and performance issues, the Public Beta is designed to help Apple collect more data on how the operating systems are working and make tweaks and refinements to ensure a stable public release, which is typically in the second week of September for iOS, watchOS, and tvOS, and in the middle of October for macOS releases.