iOS 18.6 Beta Coming Soon Alongside iOS 26 Beta
iOS 26 has been stealing the spotlight over the last week, but there is still another iOS 18 update on the horizon, according to a leaker.
The first iOS 18.6 beta should be coming very soon, as a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing iOS information today shared a build number (22G5054d) for the beta. We do not link to the account's posts at the owner's request.
Update: The first iOS 18.6 developer beta is now available.
Apple's software engineers have been internally testing iOS 18.6 since March, according to MacRumors analytics. There are now thousands of pageviews from iPhones running the iOS 18.6 beta in our website's visitor logs, as testing ramps up.
iOS 18.6 will likely be a minor update with bug fixes and security patches, but some smaller new features are also possible. The update was initially expected to enable Apple Intelligence in China, but that has reportedly been delayed due to regulatory hurdles.
The table below provides an overview of iOS 13.6 through iOS 17.6.
| 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 |
For those curious, we have not yet seen any evidence of an iOS 18.5.1 update being in the works, so Apple might jump right to iOS 18.6.
Following beta testing, iOS 18.6 will likely be released in July.
There will likely be an iOS 18.7 update too with additional security patches in September, before Apple fully moves on to the iOS 26 cycle.
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