Apple Releases First Public Beta of macOS Ventura 13.1

Apple today seeded the first beta of macOS Ventura 13.1 to its public beta testing group, allowing non-developers to try out the new features ahead of the software's release. The public beta comes one day after Apple provided the beta to developers.

macos ventura roundup header
Public beta testers can download the macOS 13.1 Ventura update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.

macOS Ventura 13.1 introduces the Freeform app, which Apple has designed for creative collaboration. The app can be used for brainstorming, planning out ideas, jotting down notes, and more. Users can insert drawings, sticky notes, shapes, text boxes, photos, videos, PDFs, links, and other documents, with Freeform serving as a blank canvas.

Freeform "boards" can be shared with other people and discussed over FaceTime, with updates from all participants synced to everyone in real-time.

The update also introduces support for an updated Home app architecture that improves performance for smart home devices.

Related Forum: macOS Ventura

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2 Redux

Top 5 Apple Products to Look Forward to in 2025

Friday December 20, 2024 2:22 pm PST by
It's looking like 2025 is going to be an important year for Apple, with the company planning to revamp the iPhone, push further into smart home products, and improve Apple Intelligence. There are tons of new products rumored for 2025, including new iPhones, M4 Macs, a smart home command center, and much more. We've highlighted the top five Apple products that will have the biggest impact in...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...

Top Rated Comments

dugbug Avatar
28 months ago

What a joke. Releasing a new OS, but the features are not included. By the time everything is "OK". The successor is going to be released for Ventura.
why is it a joke? I think its better to release the components as they mature internally
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ignatius345 Avatar
28 months ago

my god what a worthless functionality Stage Manager is, mind boggling they shipped it anyways, they should trash it and re-think the entire multitasking behavior.
I disagree. I've been playing with it for a couple days. While I'm not yet sure it suits my way of working, I think it could be super helpful to some.

Anyway, it comes disabled by default, and you're more than welcome to just ignore it and keep doing whatever you've been doing.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nvmls Avatar
28 months ago
No significant issues on Ventura so far, other than same old same old with Safari, a few UI glitches with weather app's top bar background, drawer icon button not visible when on fullscreen & search input background color flickering out of nowhere.

Having said that, my god what a worthless functionality Stage Manager is, mind boggling they shipped it anyways, they should trash it and re-think the entire multitasking behavior.





Attachment Image

Attachment Image

Attachment Image

Attachment Image
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sorgo † Avatar
28 months ago

Honest question: if the public beta gets released only one day after the devs beta, then what's the point of releasing two identical version at two different times?

They might as well release a "beta" without 'devs' or 'public' words involved.
It’s a safeguard in case there are any seriously-disruptive bugs in the dev build, pretty sure. At the very least they’re two different seed channels with their own distinct purposes, which isn’t unusual at all in the world of software testing.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
28 months ago
I like 13.1 beta 1, it's been very stable for my 24" iMac and M1 Max 16" MBP. Want to shut down your M1 Mac its closes down very fast now comparably. Freeform app has been added in this release to try out. It installs pretty fast comparably.
[SPOILER="macOS Ventura 13.1 Beta Release "][/SPOILER]
[SPOILER="macOS Ventura 13.1 Beta Release "]
[HEADING=2]Freeform[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Known Issues[/HEADING]

* Can’t delete boards while offline, or if iCloud data is disabled for Freeform. (100294085)
Workaround: Go to Settings (System Setting on macOS) > Apple ID > iCloud, then in the Apps using iCloud section, toggle Freeform to On.
* Adding or removing collaborators can fail while attempting to change share settings. (101186059)
Workaround: Close the share sheet and try to add or remove the participants again.
* Inserting a sticky or a file might result in an unexpected error. (100883621)
Workaround: Quit and relaunch Freeform.

[HEADING=2]TV App[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Known issues[/HEADING]

* Play tracking (Up Next, and Top Shelf Update) won’t work for all platforms. (101258095)

[/SPOILER]
macOS 13.1 beta (22C5033e) - October 25, 2022
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
diggy33 Avatar
28 months ago
I've found that I like Stage Manager when I'm going to be working in a particular app for a while, and dont plan to switch to something else. I like the way it declutters the desktop, and doesnt put the apps in the dock, extending it further. Other than that, for me, it serves no real purpose, and I leave it off most of the time.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)