Apple Seeds New iOS 12.1.3 Beta to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]

by

Apple today seeded a new beta of an upcoming iOS 12.1.3 update to developers, just a few days releasing iOS 12.1.2, an update that focused on bug fixes for the eSIM feature and changed certain iPhone features in China after a Chinese court found that some iPhones infringe on Qualcomm patents.

Registered developers can download the new iOS 12.1.3 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.

ios12banner
The iOS 12.1.3 beta actually includes the same content that was destined for the iOS 12.1.2 beta, and it appears to be labeled as a second beta rather than a first beta. When Apple released iOS 12.1.2, it featured a build number of 16C101, while the first iOS 12.1.2 beta released for developers had a later 16D build number.

Apple appears to have tweaked iOS 12.1.2 to include some emergency bug fixes and the aforementioned software changes in China, rushing the update out and pushing content originally planned for iOS 12.1.2 to iOS 12.1.3 instead.

Apple was forced to push iOS 12.1.2 out earlier than expected after a Chinese court decided on December 10 that Apple's iPhone 6s through iPhone X infringed on two Qualcomm patents related to resizing and reformatting photos for wallpaper and the app switcher.

The court enacted a preliminary sales ban on the iPhone, leading Apple to make tweaks to the iOS software in China. Apple changed the way apps close when you swipe up on an open app from the app switcher, and it tweaked the share sheet interaction for setting contact and wallpaper images.

Apple has not stopped selling its iPhones in China, despite protests from Qualcomm, and it has said that it is in compliance with the court's preliminary order.

iOS 12.1.3 will mark the fourth update to iOS 12. We don't yet know what features are included, and no major changes were found in the original iOS 12.1.2 beta that was the precursor to iOS 12.1.3. As a 12.x.x update, iOS 12.1.3 likely focuses on minor changes, bug fixes, and operating system tweaks.

If we find anything new in the iOS 12.1.3 beta, we'll update this post.

Update: Apple has made the new beta of iOS 12.1.3 available to public beta testers.

Related Forum: iOS 12

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Expected to Release iOS 18.3 Next Week With These New Features

Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public next week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones. Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3. Notification Summary Changes Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries Apple Intelligence...
Read Full Article • 29 comments
iOS 18

5 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.3

Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
Read Full Article • 26 comments
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Beta Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday January 24, 2025 8:16 am PST by
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner. Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri ...
Read Full Article • 37 comments
Apple Pay Walmart Feature

Walmart Stands Firm on Why It Doesn't Accept Apple Pay in the U.S.

Thursday January 23, 2025 7:32 am PST by
Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay or other NFC payments at its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., and it stood firm on its reasoning for that today. A spokesperson for Walmart today informed MacRumors that its position on contactless payments has not changed since we last reached out about the matter in 2022. The big-box retailer said it remains focused on its own convenient...
Read Full Article • 362 comments
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Launching This Year With These New Features

Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device. The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
Read Full Article
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full Release Notes for iOS 18.3

Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes. The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
Read Full Article • 52 comments
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

Kuo: iPhone 17 Models Won't Have Smaller Dynamic Island

Friday January 24, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The upcoming iPhone 17 models that Apple plans to release this year will not feature a smaller Dynamic Island, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. On social media, he said that he is expecting the size of the Dynamic Island to remain "largely unchanged" across the iPhone 17 lineup. His statement is contrary to prior rumors that we've heard about planned changes for the iPhone 17 models. ...
Read Full Article • 78 comments
iPhone 16 Apple Store Levels

Gurman: Apple Stores Receiving 'Merchandise' Updates Next Week

Saturday January 25, 2025 5:07 pm PST by
Apple's retail stores will be rolling out "merchandise/floor marketing updates" next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman did not explicitly say if the store updates are related to any upcoming product announcements, but he did mention that next week is around the time that Apple rolls out its annual Black Unity watch band for the Apple Watch. In each of the past four years, ...
Read Full Article • 32 comments
apple power beats pro 2

Apple's First Product Announcement of 2025 is Imminent

Thursday January 23, 2025 2:48 pm PST by
It's also time for Apple's first product announcement of the year. Last year, Apple said it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and the wireless earbuds are expected to launch very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter last weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the...
Read Full Article

Top Rated Comments

C DM Avatar
C DM
80 months ago
iOS 13 must be good cos iOS 12 is such a boring release
At the same time "boring" usually means more stable and better overall.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
cmaier
80 months ago
why they call it “Beta 2”
It’s the second beta of what was 12.1.2 before 12.1.2 got renumbered to 12.1.3 due to the emergency 12.1.2 release yesterday
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
smulji Avatar
smulji
80 months ago
With iOS 12 being a "Snow Leopard"-ish iOS release, with some tentpole features but focused mostly on improving performance and stability, I wonder if we will get any major new features on 12.2 or 12.3 releases.
I doubt it. All the more reason to expect iOS 13 to be a very big release
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dan9700 Avatar
dan9700
80 months ago
I doubt it. All the more reason to expect iOS 13 to be a very big release
iOS 13 must be good cos iOS 12 is such a boring release
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
nutmac
80 months ago
With iOS 12 being a "Snow Leopard"-ish iOS release, with some tentpole features but focused mostly on improving performance and stability, I wonder if we will get any major new features on 12.2 or 12.3 releases.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
I7guy
80 months ago
Don't bet your boots! Consider that the iPhone 6, and ESPECIALLY the 6 Plus are constrained more by RAM than CPU performance, and both have the SAME amount of RAM as the 5s (1GB)—and that the ONLY difference between the 5s/6 and the 5 lineage that came before was 64-bit and 32-bit CPU—when goes the 5s the 6 and 6 Plus will undoubtedly follow. (Definitely the 6 Plus; the extra pixels on the 6 Plus with 1GB of RAM was a performance design flaw from Day 1. The 5s is more performant on iOS 12 than a 6 Plus at most tasks.) The 6s and later--including the SE--all have 2GB of RAM, which isn't just "double", because of OS baseline, it comes out to be more like 3x more available memory.
5 years of support unless Apple makes some exceptions. Next year the 5s turns 6, which means unless Apple changes it's policies, the 5s has seen its last update.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments