Apple has surprisingly brought out a new build of its fall operating systems earlier than expected, with new builds of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, macOS Sequoia, watchOS 11, and visionOS 2 out for testing.

The sixth round appears after the fifth round, which landed on August 5, while the fourth round was issued on July 23, though Apple did roll out a minor update to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 builds on July 26. The third round was similar, as, as after an initial July 8 introduction for most updates, July 10 for macOS Sequoia, Apple then reissued the betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia on July 15.

The betas are for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, tvOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, as well as visionOS 2.

Apple is also concurrently operating another set of developer betas, for the update to the fall operating systems. This covers iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.

The sixth developer betas of iOS and iPadOS 18 are build number 22A5338b replacing 22A5326f. Apple's sixth tvOS 18 build number is 22J5346a, up from the fifth, 22J5335d.

The sixth macOS 15 Sequoia beta is build number 24A5320a, replacing 24A5309e. The sixth watchOS 11 developer beta is 22R5340a taking over from 22R5328e.

The sixth visionOS 2.0 developer beta is build 22N5308b, replacing the fourth, 22N5297g.

The fifth round added Distraction Control, a feature for Safari that allows users to remove unwanted elements from a webpage. Changes have also been made to Photos, including the removal of the Carousel view.

AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic also was first to discover the new Sequoia Sunrise wallpaper in the macOS Sonoma beta.

The fourth iOS 18 beta included new Control Center changes, more refinement to the flashlight controls, new CarPlay wallpapers, and new background graphical changes.

The third round of developer betas for iOS 18 had changes to dark mode for icons, updates to the flashlight controls, and hints to a new home device.

The second included SharePlay upgrades and iPhone Screen Mirroring, which Apple confirmed days before issuing.

The confirmation was part of Apple's response to stories that it may abstain from offering Apple Intelligence and other major new operating system features in the European Union, due to Digital Markets Act interoperability mandates.

AppleInsider and Apple strongly recommend that users avoid installing test operating systems or other beta or RC software on "mission-critical" or primary devices, as there is the small chance of issues that could result in the loss of data. Testers should instead use secondary or non-essential hardware and ensure they have sufficient backups of their critical data at all times.

Source: AppleInsider