As the final release edges closer, Apple moves on to its seventh developer betas of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 Tahoe, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26.
The seventh round follows after the sixth, which officially landed on August 11. However, Apple did introduce small update to the build on August 14 for iOS 26.
The fifth appeared on August 5, the fourth on July 22, and the third on July 7 for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, macOS 26 Tahoe, and visionOS 26, but tvOS 26, arrived one day later on July 8.
Apple is anticipated to bring out its milestone operating system releases in the fall, coinciding with its new hardware releases including September's usual iPhone launch.
- iOS 26 beta 7 is build 23A5326a, replacing 23A5318f
- iPadOS 26 beta 7 is build 23A5326a, replacing 23A5318c
- watchOS 26 beta 7 is build 23R5346a, replacing 23R5340a
- macOS Tahoe 26 beta 7 is build 25A5346a, replacing 25A5338b
- visionOS 26 beta 7 is build 23M5328a, replacing 23M5322b
- tvOS 26 beta 7 is build 23J5346a, replacing 23J5339a
At the same time, Apple has issued the third release candidates for macOS Sequoia 15.7 (24G214) and macOS Sonoma 14.8 (23J15).
The big change for the 26 generation is the cross-platform Liquid Glass aesthetic. A glass-based interface, it uses transparency throughout the operating systems and Apple's apps.
Other notable changes in iOS 26 include an updated battery management system, a revised camera app, tweaks to the ChatGPT integration, and AirPods feature updates.
iPadOS 26 is considerably more productivity focused, thanks to a new Files app, Preview, and window management changes. For macOS Tahoe changes, there's the Phone app, Clipboard History, and a reworking of Spotlight.
The sixth iOS 26 developer beta added a new intro sequence with improved app animations, priority notification tweaks, more ringtone options, and removed a Camera app toggle added in the fifth beta. The second sixth beta build included a blood oxygen data sensor change for the Apple Watch.
The '26 betas aren't the only tested operating system updates. It has been running a second track for current-gen operating system betas in parallel, but that should be coming to an end pending the 26-gen launch.
AppleInsider and Apple strongly insist against users installing test operating systems or beta software onto primary or "mission-critical" hardware. Due to the increased risk of data loss and other issues, beta participants should use secondary or non-essential hardware and ensure they have sufficient backups of their critical data at all times.
Members of the public wanting to try out the features of the inbound generation should really use the public betas instead.
Find any changes in the new builds? Reach out to us on Twitter at @AppleInsider or @Andrew_OSU, or send Andrew an email at [email protected].
