Malcolm Owen
A week after it completed the last beta testing cycle, Apple has restarted the process once more, issuing new first betas for the unusually numbered iOS 13.4.5, iPadOS 13.4.5, tvOS 13.4.5, and macOS Catalina 10.15.5.
The latest builds can be downloaded by developers in the beta-testing scheme via the Apple Developer Center, or as an over-the-air update for hardware already using earlier beta builds. A public beta version of the releases is expected to start arriving soon, and will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program website.
The last set of betas for iOS 13.4, iPadOS 13.4, tvOS 13.4, and macOS 10.15.4 were issued on March 18, and made up the sixth round of testing in that iteration. Apple released iOS 13.4, iPadOS 13.4, watchOS 6.2, tvOS 13.4, and macOS 10.15.4 to the public on March 24.
At the time of publication, the contents of each beta remains largely unknown, with release notes advising of "bug fixes and improvements."
Furthermore, the numbering of the betas are highly unusual. With the exception of macOS, the other betas would be expected to add the .1 suffix to the version numbers for typical beta revisions, making the iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS betas version 13.4.1. It currently is unclear why Apple has elected to make such a major jump in version numbers.
AppleInsider, and Apple itself, strongly recommend users don't install the betas on to "mission-critical" or primary devices, as there is the remote possibility of data loss or other issues. Instead, testers should install betas onto secondary or non-essential devices, and to make sure there are sufficient backups of important data before updating.
Find any changes in the new betas? Reach out to us on Twitter at @AppleInsider or @Andrew_OSU, or send Andrew an email at andrew@AppleInsider.com.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
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2 Comments
Interesting point about the version numbering. I have to admit that I don't know whether Apple actually adheres to any kind of policy around version management and numbering. I suspect they do but the scheme is somewhat opaque to external/public beta testers. Perhaps Apple has added additional layers or quality gates to their beta testing regimen and will only release external betas that have passed through some number of internal beta testing cycles. Yeah, I'm making this up, but I think it would make sense if they want to up their game on the software quality front. Why air really dirty laundry if you can send it through a couple of wash cycles beforehand to reduce the stink?
Forget beta this last update f*^ked up my iMac. Was working fine and no sooner did I download this now it’s taking forever to boot up and when it finally does it is randomly restarting. And applications are taking a while to load as well. Had this same problem before with the last update of Mojave. Thought it would be better with Catalina. Same shit different version. When the hell will they put out something that’s stable?