Apple just released an updated build for its third iOS 18 beta to developers. This comes on the heels of widespread anticipation for the first public beta, which did not come to fruition today. But if this is any indication, we are getting very close to the public beta in the coming days.
Apple released the first developer build of iOS 18 right after its WWDC 2024 keynote on June 10, 2024. A week ago, Apple dropped the third developer beta for iOS 18, which had build number 22A5307f. Typically, Apple releases the public betas a week after the third beta, at least according to the previous year’s records.
However, today, Apple threw a curveball by seeding an updated developer beta 3 instead, now having a new build number of 22A5307i. Additionally, Apple also released an updated third beta for macOS Sequoia with a new build number of 24A5289h, whereas the previous one was 24A5289g.
At this point in time, it’s unclear if there are any big changes in this updated third beta of iOS 18. If anything, it could just be some bug fixes.
The original third beta of iOS 18 added some new features. One of these was a variant of the system’s default wallpaper that would change colors during the day. The new Photos app also received some refinements to make it more streamlined, and the flashlight interface on iPhones with Dynamic Island was redesigned. Lastly, the third beta enabled the long-awaited RCS support for more global carriers.
As of now, the Apple Intelligence features have not yet been enabled on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max devices running the third developer beta. Apple said that those features would be coming later in the summer, so perhaps they will come with the public beta. There are also other features that may not be coming to iOS 18 until 2025.
Though we were hoping to see the first iOS 18 public beta today, this updated third developer beta means we’re getting closer. Hopefully, the public beta will drop by next week — or even later on this week.