New public betas for all of Apple’s software platforms were just released. For macOS Sequoia 15.5, iPadOS 18.5, tvOS 18.5, and other operating systems, public betas are now available. The first public betas of the next iOS 18.5, iPadOS 18.5, and macOS Sequoia 15.5 updates were released by Apple today, giving the public the opportunity to test the changes before their official release. The second betas were made available to developers by Apple the day before the public betas were released.
After choosing to participate in the beta via Apple’s public beta testing website, public beta testers can download the updates via the Settings app on each device.
Both macOS Sequoia 15.5 and iOS 18.5 are rather small updates, and not many new features have been found.
There are a few minor changes to the way AppleCare information is presented in the iOS Mail app, and you can choose to disable Contact Photos and Group by Sender for a more iOS 17 Mail app-like appearance.
Additionally, Apple has made watchOS 11.5 and tvOS 18.5 public betas available.
Now available is a new lineup of Apple beta software
Major new OS versions for this fall, including iOS 19 and macOS 16, will be unveiled at WWDC in June.
However, Apple will keep updating its current software versions until that time. Additionally, the next wave is currently in public beta:
- iOS 18.5
- iPadOS 18.5
- macOS Sequoia 15.5
- tvOS 18.5
- watchOS 11.5
- HomePod 18.5
Since Apple has not yet included the Vision Pro in its public beta program, there isn’t a public beta for visionOS 2.5 available.
The latest updates appear to have made very few noticeable changes thus far in early testing.
There aren’t many changes in the public beta, except from a new menu option to restore the previous Apple Mail appearance.
Future beta releases might alter that, but it’s also likely that Apple is concentrating mostly on internal improvements with these latest updates.
There isn’t much of a need to update just now in the public beta.
With the iOS 18 cycle coming to an end and iOS 19 set for a major reveal in June, Apple may be concentrating much of its work on keeping these updates as reliable as possible while making larger investments in the next flagship new versions.
However, if you are enrolled in Apple’s public beta program, you might wish to wait to install these upgrades for the time being due to the lack of significant new features. Any newly discovered issues could essentially do nothing more than make your devices less stable.
Bugs are less likely to appear after further betas are released, but who can tell? Perhaps there will be more new features.
The software probably concentrates on security enhancements and bug fixes that are not visible to the public.