Photo: Apple
After a wait that stretched out weeks longer than usual, Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 17.5 to developers Tuesday, along with the initial beta of macOS Sonoma 14.5.
And it’s going to be a very busy day for developers because iPadOS 17.5 beta 1, watchOS 10.5 beta 1, tvOS 17.5 beta 1 and visionOS 1.2 beta 1 also all went out.
iOS 17.5, macOS Sonoma 14.5 are ready for developers to start testing
Work on all Apple’s operating systems is virtually continuous, and the Mac-maker traditionally releases betas of upcoming OS versions the day after the full previous version goes to all users. That’s not what happened this time.
iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4 went to the public on March 5, while macOS Sonoma 14.4, watchOS 10.4, etc., debuted March 7. Apple made developers wait almost a month for betas for the follow-up versions. Still, they are out now.
They are likely to bring new features and changes, but they have just been seeded to devs so there’s been no time to determine what the differences are yet.
The build numbers for the just-released betas end in “f” (in a countdown to “a”), giving Apple plenty of space before the final releases.
Just for devs
Currently, the first round of OS betas for iPhone, Mac, iPad and Apple TV are available only for those in Apple’s developer program.
Those in Apple’s free public beta program will gain access, too, but that might take a while. If Apple follows its usual habits, the second round of betas won’t arrive for two weeks.