Malcolm Owen
Apple has handed out the first release candidates for this generation of betas, with RC builds of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4, tvOS 18.4, watchOS 11.4, and visionOS 2.4 now available.
The RC beta round follows after the fourth for iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4, tvOS 18.4, watchOS 11.4, and visionOS 2.4, which shipped on March 17. The third appeared on March 10, the second landed on March 3, and the first round surfaced on February 21.
A release candidate is typically the last phase of a developer beta generation, with it effectively containing what should be provided to the public for the final release. While Apple aims to seed just one RC build of each operating system, this can sometimes stretch to a second.
The iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 RC developer betas share build number 22E239, replacing 22E5232a, while the macOS Sequoia 15.4 RC uses build number 24E246, up from 24E5238a.
The tvOS 18.4 RC build is 22L254, the watchOS 11.4 RC build is 22T250, and the visionOS 2.4 RC build is 22O237.
At the same time, Apple has issued release candidates for older operating systems. An RC build of iOS 17.7.6 is out with build 21H423, while macOS 14.7.5's RC is build 23H527, and the RC for macOS 13.7.5 is build 22H527
The additions to the first build in iOS 18.4 included updates to Apple Intelligence, such as localization support, Image Playground's new sketch style, and priority notification adjustments.
The Apple Vision Pro benefited from a new iOS app, explaining how to use the headset and helping with content discovery.
The Apple News+ subscription added food content, Control Center added new Ambient Music controls, and minor changes were made to Apple Maps, Apple Wallet, CarPlay, Mobile Device Management, Podcasts, and Siri.
The initial iPadOS build added on-device email categorization, which also appeared on macOS Sequoia 15.4. Apple Vision Pro itself gained support for Apple Intelligence in the first visionOS 2.4 beta build.
The second round of builds added new emoji characters, introduced Visual Intelligence to the iPhone 15 Pro, and a Control Center section just for Apple Intelligence features.
The App Store gained additional download options, including a new "pause" download button. There were also changes to the Shortcuts app and indications that CarPlay could have an update for EV route planning in the future.
The Wallet app added a new menu icon for accessing in-app settings and order management. Orange users in France also saw the RCS protocol enabled in the beta.
AppleInsider and Apple strongly recommend that users do not install beta operating systems or other software being tested onto "mission-critical" or primary hardware, due to the ever-present danger of bugs and issues that could result in the loss of data. As always, testers should use secondary or non-essential devices and ensure they have sufficient backups of any critical data.
Find any changes in the new builds? Reach out to us on Twitter at @AppleInsider or @Andrew_OSU, or send Andrew an email at andrew@AppleInsider.com.
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Charles Martin
Wesley Hilliard
Oliver Haslam
Marko Zivkovic
Amber Neely
2 Comments
OH NO! Changes to the shortcut app. Sounds like 'brace for major headaches' for those who use it. Can't imagine many beta testers using or creating complex shortcuts who would pick up on bugs within that app.
CarPlay EV route planning falls right into my years ago theory that Apple would want to participate in autonomous ride hailing with CarPlay serving several functions:
query vehicle for remaining range.
enter vehicle into ride hailing fleet
dispatch vehicle to nearby rider for requested trip that the vehicle’s range could cover, always with sufficient range remaining to get the vehicle to a charging station (required layers route planning)
provide iOS/WatchOS app to request a ride.
Apple could then offerer this capability to both human driven vehicles and autonomous vehicles to allow any vehicle to join a ride hailing fleet, be dispatched to pick up riders and deliver them to their destinations and route to a charging station as needed. For autonomous vehicles routing to a service depot could also be included should someone spill coffee in the vehicle or the vehicle otherwise detects it needs to be serviced.