iOS 18 Public Beta Coming Soon: How to Get Your iPhone Ready

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Apple last month announced that the first public beta of iOS 18 would be released in July, so it should be available to try out soon.

Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock
Below, we outline everything you need to know about the upcoming iOS 18 public beta.

Timing

The first iOS 17 and iOS 16 public betas came out in the first half of July in the past two years.

  • iOS 16: Monday, July 11, 2022
  • iOS 17: Wednesday, July 12, 2023

How to Get Ready

Enrolling in Apple's free public beta testing program is simple: visit beta.apple.com, sign in to your Apple ID account, and accept the terms and conditions.

After signing up, open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap General → Software Update → Beta Updates. This is where the iOS 18 public beta will be listed once available, and you will be able to tap on it to begin the installation process. Note that the iPhone must be signed in to the same Apple ID enrolled in the public beta program.

Due to software bugs and other potential issues, we recommend installing the iOS 18 public beta on a secondary iPhone, rather than the device that you use daily. We also highly recommend backing up your iPhone to your Mac before installing beta software on the device, to prevent data loss in the event something goes wrong.

We will be sharing a more detailed step-by-step guide on installing the iOS 18 public beta following its release later this month.

Compatible iPhones

iOS 18 is compatible with the same iPhone models as iOS 17 is:

  • iPhone 15
  • iPhone 15 Plus
  • iPhone 15 Pro
  • iPhone 15 Pro Max
  • iPhone 14
  • iPhone 14 Plus
  • iPhone 14 Pro
  • iPhone 14 Pro Max
  • iPhone 13 mini
  • iPhone 13
  • iPhone 13 Pro
  • iPhone 13 Pro Max
  • iPhone 12 mini
  • iPhone 12
  • iPhone 12 Pro
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max
  • iPhone 11
  • iPhone 11 Pro
  • iPhone 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone XS
  • iPhone XS Max
  • iPhone XR
  • iPhone SE (2nd generation or later)

New Features

iOS 18 Home Screen
iOS 18 introduces new customization options for the Home Screen and Control Center, a redesigned Photos app, the ability to use any emoji as a Tapback in the Messages app, an option to lock apps behind Face ID or Touch ID, and much more.

The tentpole feature of iOS 18 is the Apple Intelligence suite of AI features. These features will help you improve your writing, summarize your notifications, generate custom emoji and images, and much more. Apple Intelligence will also power a smarter version of Siri with on-screen awareness, deeper per-app controls, and more.

Apple Intelligence features have yet to be added to any iOS 18 developer betas, so they might not be available in the first iOS 18 public beta.

Read our in-depth iOS 18 roundup to learn more about the update.

Skipping the Beta?

iOS 18 should be widely released to all users with a compatible iPhone in September.

Related Roundups: iOS 18, iPadOS 18
Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

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Top Rated Comments

arkitect Avatar
arkitect
9 months ago
iOS 18 Public Beta Coming Soon: How to Get Your iPhone Ready?

By keeping it as far away from the Beta as possible.

/jk
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fwmireault Avatar
fwmireault
9 months ago

MR didn’t even mention that Apple Intelligence isn’t available to anyone that doesn’t not own the iPhone 15 pro models lol (so 95% of users)
They've mentioned it in several articles already
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BigTimEnergy Avatar
BigTimEnergy
9 months ago
Last Beta I did was iOS 7. Never had the itch again since then, I can wait.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
trusso Avatar
trusso
9 months ago
Since iOS and macOS are essentially rolling release now, and the new features are either half baked right now or not even there… take my advice and just wait for the official release in 2-3 months. You don’t need the public beta unless you’re actually a developer.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PsykX Avatar
PsykX
9 months ago

Last Beta I did was iOS 7. Never had the itch again since then, I can wait.
That's when the pile of bugs started. I remember iOS 9 was also a disaster.

I installed iOS 18 on my old XR and I did a quick tour yesterday. Looks like a solid update overall.
Also in Apple's release notes, there's SO many fixes in EVERY single platform, including their development platform (Xcode), and their programming languages (Swift, SwiftUI...). In fact, I've never seen as many fixes in the release notes.

Either they are being more transparent about bug fixes, or they really put more time into bug fixing this year. I suspect it's a little bit of both.

That being said : The average Joe should definitely wait until September to install it. The best features won't be ready this year anyway (Apple Intelligence).
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unity451 Avatar
Unity451
9 months ago

Last Beta I did was iOS 7. Never had the itch again since then, I can wait.
Same. I use the same phone for personal and work. I can't afford to be carrying around a brick.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments