When iOS 16 lands on your iPhone this fall, it will bring a ton of great new features. But you don’t have to wait until September to try them. If you’re brave, you can download and install iOS 16 Beta – just hope there are some bugs and issues along the way.
Apple unveiled a developer beta for iOS 16 on Monday, June 6, shortly after WWDC announced iOS 16 at Keynote. But it’s a very early, boogie release, for registered developers who need to test their software and start using the new framework and API. If you are not a registered developer, you will have to wait for the public beta, which will come in July. Here’s what Apple has to say about beta and what we can guess from past releases.
When can we expect iOS 16 public beta 1?
During the WWDC Keynote, Tim Cook concluded by saying that “our OS releases will be available today as Developer Beta and each of them will have a public beta next month.” At the very least, that means we can expect iOS 16 public beta in July.
Apples
But it doesn’t really shrink things too much, so let’s take a look at past releases to see if we can learn more about what to expect.
- With iOS 15, the first developer beta was released on June 7. The second developer beta was on June 24 and the first public beta comes on Wednesday, June 30, six days later.
- With iOS 14, the first developer beta was released on June 22. The second developer beta was July 7, and the first public beta just two days later, July 9 (a Thursday). (WWDC was later held in 2020 due to the epidemic.)
- With iOS 13, the first developer beta was released on June 3. The second was June 18, about a week after the first public beta, Monday, June 24.
Looking back at the modern history of iOS releases, we see that a second developer beta usually follows within two to three weeks of the first and the first public beta follows within a week. The beta release doesn’t come until almost Friday.
Looking at the history, our best guess is that the developer beta 2 will be released sometime between June 27 and June 30, and the first public beta will be released the following week – the first week of July.
How to sign up for iOS 16 Beta
Although the first public beta for iOS 16 is still a few weeks away, you can sign up in advance so that your device is ready when it becomes available.
- Click Sign Up on the Apple Beta page and register with your Apple ID.
- Log in to the beta software program.
- Click “Register your iOS device”. (If you signed up for the beta of the previous version last year, you will need to uninstall the profile for this and then re-register for the new one.)
- Go to beta.apple.com/profile on your iOS device.
- Download and install the configuration profile. You may need to jump on Settings To activate the profile. Go General > VPN and Device Management And tap on the iOS 16 beta profile there.
Beta profiles are usually available before the first beta release. Once you’ve installed it, you’ll be fully prepared for the public beta release in July. All you have to do is go Settings > General And tap Software updates To install public beta.
Read our complete guide on how to sign up and install for iOS developer or public betas.