Now that the second beta of iOS 18 is available, developers — or eager folks with a free developer account — can now start experimenting with additional features such as iPhone Mirroring for Mac and upgraded SharePlay screen sharing. Still, developer betas are not meant for broad adoption, which is why you should probably wait for the more stable first iOS 18 public beta. All you’ll need is a free Apple Beta account, a test iPhone that isn’t your daily phone (to be safe) and a modicum of patience.
But how much patience? The iOS 18 public beta is a great way to try new features of iOS 18, such as customizable home and lock screens, text message formatting, texting via satellite and the redesigned Photos app (though we don’t expect Apple Intelligence features to appear until later in the year).
Looking at the schedule of past beta releases, and considering the iOS 18 beta 2 arrived just two weeks after the first one, we estimate the public beta could be available sooner than we first thought.
Did you already install the iOS 18 beta and are having second thoughts? Don’t worry, you can revert back to iOS 17.
When will Apple release the first iOS 18 public beta for iPhones?
If you’re itching to install the updated public beta of iOS 18, the Apple Beta page frustratingly states that it and the other operating system betas are “Coming Soon.” Not much more helpful, Apple says in a press release that, “A public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month at beta.apple.com.” But Apple has been providing public betas each year since 2015 with iOS 8.3, and those betas have consistently appeared roughly three to four weeks after the first developer betas.
That means the iOS 18 public beta could approximately arrive as early as July 8, 2024.
Here’s when the previous public releases first dropped:
- iOS 17 public beta: July 12, 2023
- iOS 16 public beta: July 11, 2022
- iOS 15 public beta: June 30, 2021
- iOS 14 public beta: July 9, 2020
What about Apple’s other public betas?
iOS tends to generate the most interest, but Apple also releases public betas of its other operating systems around the same time. We expect to see iPad OS 18, WatchOS 11, TVOS 18 and even HomePod software 18 to appear on or near the same date as iOS 18.
The MacOS public beta, on the other hand, sometimes appears on a different schedule. But, the last two releases, Sonoma and Ventura, kept pace with iOS:
- MacOS Sonoma public beta: July 11, 2023
- MacOS Ventura public beta: July 12, 2022
- MacOS Monterey public beta: July 7, 2021
- MacOS Big Sur public beta: Aug. 10, 2020
We wouldn’t be surprised if the MacOS Sequoia public beta also arrives as early as July 8, 2024, or perhaps the following week.
Where’s Vision OS?
Notably out of sight on the Apple Beta page is Vision OS 2 for the Vision Pro. Last year, Apple did not release a public beta of Vision OS, so it’s not yet clear if one will arrive this year before the Vision OS 2 release.
For more on what Apple’s up to, we compared Apple’s Find My Network and Google’s Find My Device and what we think might be iOS 18’s most underrated feature.
