Update 10:05 a.m. July 11: The first public beta is now available.
Announced in June at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 are Apple’s next-generation operating systems for iPhone and iPad.
On iPhone, iOS 16 includes a completely overhauled Lock Screen with extensive personalization features and widgets. There are new Focus filters, Passkeys, Safari Shared Tab Groups, a new iCloud Shared Photo Library, and more.
iPadOS 16 gets a Weather app for the first time, and also offers a range of “pro” features that are exclusive to iPad models with the M1 chip. For example, Stage Manager brings a new way to multitask with multiple overlapping windows and full external display support.
iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 also share a number of new features and changes such as updates to apps like Notes, Mail, and Messages, Live Text, Visual Look Up, and Dictation Enhancements.
iOS 16 Public Beta Release Date
iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 became available for registered members of Apple’s developer program immediately following the WWDC keynote on June 7, with Apple saying they would be coming to the public beta program that’s open to everyone sometime in July.
Apple did not outline a specific day in July when the public betas will become available, but the initial public betas usually come around a week after the developer betas they are based on become available.
Well-connected reporter Mark Gurman said in late June that the public beta release is likely to happen sometime in the week of July 11, and Apple indeed released the third developer betas on Wednesday, July 6, lining up with the rumored public beta launch for the following week.
As for which day of the week the iOS 16 public beta will be released on, that’s still up in the air. Over the past seven years that Apple has offered public betas of the upcoming major iOS updates following WWDC, they have been released on Mondays three times, Thursdays three times, and Wednesday once.
The past three years have seen three different days of the week for releases (iOS 13 on Monday, iOS 14 on Thursday, and iOS 15 on Wednesday), so there is no reliable historical pattern to inform a prediction for this year.
It does, however, appear that reviews for the new MacBook Air may be published on Thursday ahead of Friday’s launch of the new notebook, so it seems likely the iOS 16 public beta will debut on Wednesday at the latest in order to allow Apple to spread out its news throughout the week.
As for what time of day the public beta will be released, it’s usually around 10:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time, although it can be a bit earlier or later than that. Here’s what that 10:00 a.m. timing corresponds to in various time zones around the world:
If you’re interested in installing the developer betas on your devices, you can sign up for an Apple Developer Program membership, which costs $99 per year in the United States. Alternatively, you can join Apple’s free Beta Software Program for access to the public betas when released in July.
Compatibility
iOS 16 is compatible with the iPhone 8 and newer, while iPadOS 16 is compatible with the iPad (5th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), and all iPad Pro models.
