Apple Begins Testing iOS 18.6 Update for iPhones

Apple this week began testing iOS 18.6, according to our website's visitor logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The update is currently limited to Apple's software engineers, with no developer or public beta available yet.

iOS 18
The first iOS 18.6 beta will likely be made available in May or June, and the update should be released to the general public before the end of July.

It is still too early to know what new features and changes will be introduced in iOS 18.6, if any. iOS 17.6 and iOS 16.6 had only bug fixes and security patches, but earlier updates like iOS 13.6, iOS 14.6, and iOS 15.6 included some new features.

Apple recently delayed personalized Siri features until some point "in the coming year," but the current consensus is that those upgrades will not launch until the iOS 19 cycle.

The chart below recaps "point-six" updates over the past five years.

iOS Version First Developer Beta Public Release Inclusions
iOS 13.6
June 1, 2020
July 15, 2020
- Digital car keys in Wallet app
- Apple News+ audio stories
- Symptoms category in Health app
- Bug fixes and small enhancements
iOS 14.6
April 22, 2021
May 24, 2021
- Apple Podcasts subscriptions
- Family Sharing for Apple Card
- AirTag and Find My enhancements
- Bug fixes
iOS 15.6
May 18, 2022
July 20, 2022
- Restart live sports in TV app
- Bug fixes
iOS 16.6
May 19, 2023
July 24, 2023
- Bug fixes and security patches
iOS 17.6
June 17, 2024
July 29, 2024
- Bug fixes and security patches

Apple has also been testing iOS 18.5 for a few months now. The first iOS 18.5 beta will likely be released either this week or next week.

iOS 18.4 was released earlier today, following more than a month of beta testing.

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

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Top Rated Comments

techfreak23 Avatar
2 days ago at 11:16 am
It's really interesting that there are Apple Engineers that frequent this site on pre-production software that hasn't been released to the public.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dmccombs Avatar
2 days ago at 11:20 am
No AI, but maybe we will get a couple more emoji. BEST UPDATE EVER!!!! ?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Le0M Avatar
2 days ago at 11:25 am
No one will probably care about iOS 18.6 beta if iOS 19 beta will be available.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
crsh1976 Avatar
2 days ago at 11:49 am

18.6 will be stellar, guaranteed.
[S]18.1[/S] [S]18.2[/S] [S]18.3[/S] [S]18.4[/S] [S]18.5[/S] [S]18.6[/S] 19.0 will be stellar
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
2 days ago at 11:35 am

It’s very easy to spoof your user agent!
We wait until there are a meaningful number of sessions before publishing.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
slippery-pete Avatar
2 days ago at 11:42 am

Yes, up until a few months ago, it took 30 minutes at most, but now it's over an hour and a half and watchOS 11.4 is nowhere to be found on my end of the world.
Take a deep breath, everything will be ok.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)