Apple on Tuesday issued its first pre-release beta of iOS 9.2 to developers for testing, alongside a new beta of Xcode 7.2, as the launch of the forthcoming iPad Pro approaches.
The iOS 9.2 beta is identified as build 13C5055d. Apple has warned developers that devices updated to the beta software cannot be restored to earlier versions of iOS.
The software can be downloaded through the developer center website. Presumably a public beta of iOS 9.2 will be soon to follow, given Apple's recent history of release patterns.
Exactly what changes are found in iOS 9.2 remain unknown, but its point-one version increase suggests that it will be more than just behind-the-scenes bug fixes. It's possible that iOS 9.2 could introduce new features, like support for the Apple Pencil, that will be required for the forthcoming iPad Pro.
The first beta of iOS 9.2 arrives less than a week after Apple supplied the final public release of iOS 9.1. The defining feature of that update was more than 150 new emoji characters, as well as improvements to Live Photos on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.