When iOS 16 arrives on your iPhone this fall, it will bring tons of amazing new features. But you don’t have to wait until September to try them. If you’re brave, you can download and install the iOS 16 beta – just expect some bugs and issues along the way.
Apple released the developer beta of iOS 16 on Monday, June 6, right after iOS 16 was announced at the main WWDC event. But this is a very early, buggy release meant for registered developers who need to test their software and start using new platforms and APIs. If you’re not a registered developer, you’ll have to wait for the public beta release sometime in July. Here’s everything Apple has said about the beta, and what we can make of past releases.
When can we expect the iOS 16 public beta 1?
During the WWDC keynote, Tim Cook concluded his keynote by saying, “Our OS releases will be available as developer betas today, and each will have a public beta next month.” At a minimum, this means we can expect an iOS 16 public beta in July.
Apple
But it doesn’t really narrow things down much, so let’s look at past releases to see if we can find out more about what we can expect.
- With iOS 15, the first developer beta was released on June 7th. The second developer beta was released on June 24, and the first public beta was released six days later on Wednesday, June 30.
- With iOS 14, the first developer beta was released on June 22. The second developer beta was released on July 7th and the first public beta was released just two days later on Thursday, July 9th (Thursday). (WWDC was held later in 2020 due to the pandemic.)
- With iOS 13, the first developer beta was released on June 3rd. The second is on June 18, and the first public beta is about a week later, on Monday, June 24.
Looking at the modern history of iOS releases, we see that the second developer beta usually follows two to three weeks after the first, and the first public beta follows within a week. Beta releases almost never come out on a Friday.
Based on history, we can assume that Developer Beta 2 will release sometime between June 27th and 30th, with the first public beta coming out next week, the first week of July.
How to sign up for the iOS 16 beta
While the first public beta of iOS 16 is still a few weeks away, you can already sign up to have your device ready when it’s available.
- Click Sign Up on the Apple Beta page and sign up using your Apple ID.
- Sign in to the beta testing program.
- Click Register Your iOS Device. (If you subscribed to a beta version of a previous version last year, you may need to delete your profile for it and then re-register for a new one.)
- Go to beta.apple.com/profile on your iOS device.
- Download and install the configuration profile. You may need to jump over Settings to enable the profile. Go to General > VPN and device management and click there on the iOS 16 beta profile.
A beta profile is usually available long before the first beta is released. If you have it installed, you’ll be all set when the public beta releases in July. All you need to do is go to Settings > General and press Software update install the public beta.
Read our complete guide on how to sign up for and install the iOS Developer Beta or Public Beta.