Video: What's new in iOS 11.4 beta 5: Is this the 'gold master?'

Coming one week after beta four, the fifth iteration of iOS 11.4 has been released to developers. With a release expected soon, is this going to be the final beta?

As we approach the imminent release, fewer things are changed between each beta. A sole bug fix was discovered here in beta five, another fix to the volume icon within Control Center. This icon was broken with 11.4, then fixed, then partially broken, now fixed once more.

Since we are at beta five, this makes us wonder if this will be the final beta before release. It is notable that the build comes in at a whopping 2.2GB for an iPhone X, significantly above the 300-400Mb we usually see during the beta phase. A large download has historically been one of the signs that this is a near-final beta release, if not the actual gold master.

We expect Apple to release iOS 11.4 before WWDC, which is slated for the beginning of June. That points to a possible release late this week or one of the following two weeks.

As a comparison, the last major update to iOS, which was iOS 11.3, saw six betas during the testing phase. When iOS 11.4 is finally released, it will contain the long overdue Messages in iCloud and AirPlay 2 features.

iOS 11.4 wasn't the only beta released, it was released alongside the latest betas tvOS 11.4, watchOS 4.3.1, and macoS 10.13.5.

Be sure to check out what changed in the last beta of iOS 11.4.

13 Comments

jcoh 23 comments · 6 Years

About 6 years ago

Not the GM. Historically the GM didn’t include the feedback app. Beta 5 still has it. One more before final release.

AMcKinlay21 125 comments · 14 Years

I don't understand this novelty with regard to the volume icon... I'm on the public release of the 11.3.1 and the volume icon already animates according to how the slider is moved. So what is new in 11.4?

Andrew_OSU 574 comments · 6 Years

ombra2105 said:

I don't understand this novelty with regard to the volume icon... I'm on the public release of the 11.3.1 and the volume icon already animates according to how the slider is moved. So what is new in 11.4?

If you have followed along, it broke with the early 11.4 updates. Then they finally fixed it. Then... they broke it again. Now it is once more fixed. Believe me, it is ridiculous and I'd love to highlight something actually exciting, but it has, in fact, went back and forth several times throughout the betas.

jcoh said:

Not the GM. Historically the GM didn’t include the feedback app. Beta 5 still has it. One more before final release.

Yeah, so yes... with an asterisk.

See, the beta also has the "a" at the end of the build number and additional characters removed before release.

BUT, when we look at other point releases, such as the recent 11.3, beta 6 included both the feedback app, and the extra characters in the build number. Beta 6 was also the final build before being publicly released, essentially serving as the GM. So Apple may not issue a formal GM, instead just removing those in the finished build.

Andrew_OSU said:

jcoh said:

Not the GM. Historically the GM didn’t include the feedback app. Beta 5 still has it. One more before final release.

Yeah, so yes... with an asterisk.

See, the beta also has the "a" at the end of the build number and additional characters removed before release.

BUT, when we look at other point releases, such as the recent 11.3, beta 6 included both the feedback app, and the extra characters in the build number. Beta 6 was also the final build before being publicly released, essentially serving as the GM. So Apple may not issue a formal GM, instead just removing those in the finished build.

Yes. You may be correct. If so then there will be a final build download that should be “identical” to this version minus the feedback app. We will see.