Apple issues betas for iOS 17, watchOS 10 & macOS Sonoma

Shortly after unveiling macOS Sonoma and various other updates, Apple wasted no time making its operating system's initial beta versions available to users.

Developers enrolled in the program can access the latest builds by either visiting the Apple Developer Center or updating their Macs with the beta software. For public users, beta versions will be made available through the Apple Beta Software Program shortly after the developer versions are released.

macOS Sonoma

The first beta for macOS Sonoma 14.0 has the build number 23A5257q, which is up from the 22G5038d build of the second beta of macOS Ventura 13.5 that Apple released on May 31.

One of the company's announcements at WWDC 2023 on Monday was macOS Sonoma. It includes features such as screensavers, a new "Presenter Overlay" for video users, and private updates to Safari.

AirPods

Apple also released a new developer firmware beta for its AirPods with version 6A5238h, up from the 5E135 from May 2.

Apple typically doesn't provide detailed release notes for the firmware update to the AirPods products, but users can generally expect to find bug fixes and other improvements.

iOS 17 & iPadOS 17

Next, Apple has issued the first developer beta for iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 that it announced on Monday. The new build number is 21A5248v, up from the second iOS 16.6 beta of 20G5037d from May 31.

Announced at WWDC 2023 on Monday, iOS 17 includes Contact Posters for Apple's Phone app, a Catch-Up arrow in Messages, an update to AirDrop, and more features.

tvOS 17

Apple has next released the first developer beta for tvOS 17. The new build number is 21J5273q, up from the previous version of 20M5538d from May 31.

Some of the new features in tvOS 17 include a redesigned Control Center for tvOS, surfacing important information so people can see them at a glance. Another new feature is the ability to use an iPhone to locate the Siri remote, so users can easily find their device.

watchOS 10

Finally, the first developer beta for watchOS 10 is also out. It's a significant update that includes some redesigned apps, a Smart Stack widget option, and new functionalities to support physical and mental health.

For example, the Apple Watch can seamlessly link with Bluetooth-enabled cycling accessories like power meters, speed sensors, and cadence sensors. This feature introduces an array of new metrics, including cycling power measured in watts and cadence measured in RPM (rotations per minute).

AppleInsider and Apple strongly suggest users don't install beta operating systems or other beta software on "mission-critical" or primary devices, as there is a chance of issues that could result in the loss of data, predominant in early versions. Testers should instead use secondary or non-essential hardware and ensure they have sufficient backups of their critical data at all times.

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.

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5 Comments

kkqd1337 471 comments · 12 Years

About 1 year ago

Developers enrolled in the program can access the latest builds by either visiting the Apple Developer Center or updating their Macs with the beta software. For public users, beta versions will be made available through the Apple Beta Software Program shortly after the developer versions are released.

just an FYI, you DO NOT need a dev account. Beta available to public NOW unofficially. I just got the beta profile from twitter.

installing on my iphone now!

jbtuckr 28 comments · 3 Years

ATTN!! To get the iOS 17 developer beta without being a developer, just keep going back and forth between “General” and “Software update” and it’ll show up.

Fidonet127 598 comments · 5 Years

Oddly, I was able to pickup the iOS developer beta, whereas the previous version, I wasn't able to. Same phone, and logged in to the same account. Those there is a lot of people it seems able to pickup the developer beta, even if they didn't have a developer account.

Overall, no major bugs yet.... at least for me. They changed how numbers works in iOS. They added a bit more actions you can do in Shortcuts. It is great they added cleanup for authentication codes, however it would be nice to have cleanup for county alert txts. Even a delete messages after x time would help. You can't even delete messages in Shortcuts however. I'm not finding Shortcuts a replacement for Automator or AppleScript despite Apple announcing so.

sirdir 199 comments · 18 Years

I've installed the betas on all my devices every year, normally on my main devices after the 2nd or 3rd beta.

dewme 5775 comments · 10 Years

sirdir said:

I've installed the betas on all my devices every year, normally on my main devices after the 2nd or 3rd beta.

Hey, as long as you understand the risks and are willing to deal with the consequences, no problem. I limit myself to installing Betas only on secondary machines. I've only been burned once, and it was when Apple first switched over to APFS from Mac OS Extended partitioning. Turned out that APFS was not really supported on Fusion drives and it wiped out everything. I had to do a full repartitioning, rebuild the Fusion Drive, and reinstall macOS from the online download. Of course I had my content and configuration settings backed. Nothing was lost, other than my time, and I continued without interruption on my primary machine. The fact that Apple did not certify APFS with Fusion until the next major version indicates just how whacked the beta was in regard to the thing that burned me.

In retrospect, changing out the underlying disk formatting scheme is a huge change and one that had potentially catastrophic consequences. I should have waited for at least the second beta before giving it a whirl, at which point Apple had already removed APFS support for Fusion drives. In general, you really need to consider the scope of changes in the beta versions and try to apply some level of worst-case risk assessment. If Apple says there is no way to go back to the previous version you may want to hold off. So far, I've only had one Apple device that was truly "bricked" after a failed non-beta update, and that was a 2nd Gen iPod. When I walked into my Genius Bar appointment they simply handed me a new iPod without performing any testing on the (out of warranty) bricked unit. Had the bricking occurred as a consequence of trying to install a beta version of iOS I would probably have been sent on my way with a totally dead iPod.

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