Apple plans to release the next versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS to the general public on September 16, the company announced via its website following its iPhone-centric product event earlier today. We should also see updates for tvOS and the HomePod operating system on the same date.
The new releases bring a number of new features and refinements to Apple’s platforms: better texting with Android devices thanks to support for the RCS standard, iPhone Mirroring that allows you to interact with your iPhone via your Mac, more UI customization options for iPhones and iPads, and other improvements besides.
What won’t be included in these initial releases is any hint of Apple Intelligence, the batch of generative AI and machine learning features that Apple announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Apple is testing some of the Apple Intelligence features in betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS 15.1, updates that will be released later this fall. When Apple Intelligence does arrive, compatibility will be limited: it will require an iPhone 15 Pro or one of the just-announced iPhone 16 or 16 Pro models; an iPad Air or Pro with an M1, M2, or M4 chip; or an Apple Silicon Mac. Apple will also be withholding Apple Intelligence from devices in the EU, at least for now.
The new operating systems will run on most of the same hardware that is currently compatible with iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma, including the last few generations of Intel Macs from 2018, 2019, and 2020. But there are a handful of exceptions, like the 2018 MacBook Air and a handful of older iPads. Phones as old as 2018’s iPhone XR and XS will be able to install and run the iOS 18 update.
Apple has released multiple beta versions of each operating system since WWDC in June, and release candidate builds will likely go out to users and developers today. These will enable developers to get final versions of their apps ready for launch day. Users who want to move over to the new operating systems early can also do so—you can be relatively confident that most of the biggest bugs have been worked out over the summer betas. However, as always when installing major updates, you should ensure you have good backups of your data beforehand.
Apple has some minor updates for all its operating systems, and the releases include iOS 17.6, iPadOS 17.6, tvOS 17.6, watchOS 10.6, and macOS Sonoma 14.6.
Apple’s notes for these updates simply say they include bug fixes, security updates, or optimizations. However, there are a few hidden features.
macOS 14.6 reportedly enables multi-display support in clamshell mode on the M3 MacBook Pro, allowing users of that device to use two external displays at once. That was already possible on the M3 Pro and M3 Max variations. Apple had previously released a similar update to bring that functionality to the M3 MacBook Air.
iOS 17.6 and iPadOS 17.6 have added a feature called Catch Up, which is targeted at sports fans who use Apple’s TV app.
The feature allows users to watch a quick sequence of highlights that have been produced so far from an in-progress Major League Soccer game before joining the live feed.
That’s about it, though. These are minor updates, and they are likely the final ones other than security hotfixes until Apple begins rolling out its annual updates, such as iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia 15, later this fall.
Those updates are expected to include several new features, though the biggest—Apple Intelligence, a suite of generative AI features—will not arrive until iOS 18.1, which was just released as a developer beta for the first time.
iOS 17.6, iPadOS 17.6, tvOS 17.6, watchOS 10.6, and macOS Sonoma 14.6 are available to download and install on all supported devices now.
Apple’s next-generation operating systems are taking their next step toward release today: Apple is issuing the first public beta builds of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15 Sequoia, tvOS 18, and HomePod Software 18 today. Sign up for Apple’s public beta program with your Apple ID, and you’ll be able to select the public beta builds from Software Update in the Settings app.
We covered the highlights of most of these releases when they were announced during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, including more home screen customization in iOS and iPadOS, window tiling and iPhone mirroring in macOS,RCS text messaging support across all of Apple’s platforms, and more. But Apple still isn’t ready to show off a preview of its Apple Intelligence AI features, including the text and image generation features and a revamped Siri. Many of these features are still slated for “later this summer” and will presumably be available in some form in the final releases this fall.
Most devices that can run iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS 14 Sonoma will be able to update to the new versions, including owners of the last couple generations of Intel Macs. But a handful of older phones and tablets and the 2018 MacBook Air are being dropped by the new releases. The watchOS 11 update is also dropping the Series 4 and Series 5 models as well as the first-generation Apple Watch SE.
Apple is also not releasing a public beta build of VisionOS 2, the first major update to the Apple Vision Pro’s operating system. Users who want to try out new Vision Pro features ahead of time will still need to opt into the developer beta, at least for now.
Beta best practices
The first public betas are similar—if not identical—to the third developer beta builds that were released last week. Apple usually releases new developer betas of next-gen OS releases every two weeks, so we’d expect to see a fourth developer beta early next week and a second near-identical public beta build released shortly after.
Apple’s developer and public beta builds used to be more clearly delineated, with a $99-per-year developer account paywall put up between general users and the earliest, roughest preview builds. That changed last year when Apple made basic developer accounts (and beta software access) free for anyone who wanted to sign up.
Apple still issues separate developer/public beta builds, but these days it’s more of a statement about who the betas are ready for than an actual technical barrier. Developer betas are rougher and visibly unfinished, but developers likely have the extra patience and technical chops needed to deal with these issues; public betas are still unfinished and unstable, but you can at least expect most basic functionality to work fine.
Regardless of how stable these betas may or may not be, the standard warnings apply: Make a good backup of your device before updating in case you need to restore the older, more stable operating system, and don’t install beta software on mission-critical hardware that you absolutely need to work correctly in your day-to-day life. For iPhones and iPads that connect to iCloud, connecting the devices to a PC or Mac and performing a local backup (preferably an encrypted one) can be a more surefire way to make sure you keep a pre-upgrade backup around than relying on continuous iCloud backups.
Enlarge/ A screenshot of tvOS 17. Recent betas have included evidence that Apple is working on a touchscreen-enabled version of the interface.
Andrew Cunningham
Apple’s tvOS betas are usually among its least exciting; the Apple TV’s operating system has changed so little in the last decade that the most exciting thing to happen to it in recent memory is an extra column of icons.
But this week’s tvOS 18 beta 3 release includes a hidden feature that might be exciting for smart speaker enthusiasts, if not for people who still want their Apple TV boxes to develop exciting new capabilities. 9to5Mac has discovered a touchscreen interface (codenamed “PlasterBoard”) inside of the latest beta, a sign that Apple is testing alternate input mechanisms for software that is currently manipulated via remote control and voice.
Last week, MacRumors also discovered a reference to a device called “HomeAccessory17,1” in Apple’s beta software, a naming convention similar to the “AudioAccessory” device identifiers that Apple uses for HomePod speakers. Together, these developments suggest that Apple is working on a version of the HomePod with an integrated touchscreen, a device that rumors have suggested could launch in 2024 or 2025. The company has reportedly been working on a smart home device with a screen since at least 2021.
MacRumors also points out that the 17,1 model identifier could imply that the new HomePod is being powered by Apple’s upcoming A18 chip—model identifiers across Apple’s product lineup are normally tied to chip generation rather than product generation, which is why the Vision Pro (for example) is called “RealityDevice14,1” rather than “RealityDevice1,1.” Using an A18 will presumably give a new HomePod the necessary speed to support upcoming Apple Intelligence features, including a new and improved version of Siri.
All HomePod speakers have been running a forked version of tvOS since version 13.4 of the HomePod software was released in early 2020, which is why HomePod-related leaks seem to be showing up in tvOS-related code. This would also explain why Apple would use tvOS as the basis for a HomePod with a screen rather than a version of iPadOS.
Apple’s take on an Amazon Echo Show
A version of tvOS running on a tablet-style device could use more than just a touch-driven interface to reach its full potential—a tvOS version of Safari would be useful for browsing recipe sites or casual reading while you’re doing something else, for example. However, what Apple adds depends on the form that the screen takes.
Some rumors have suggested that it would be a circular panel that replaces the swirling LEDs on the top of current-generation HomePods, but Bloomberg’s normally reliable Mark Gurman has described the display as “iPad-like,” suggesting that it could look more like a version of Amazon’s Echo Show. Amazon advertises its Show devices as digital photo frames, miniature TVs, and general kitchen aids, and Apple’s pitch for a screen-ified HomePod would likely feature a lot of the same uses.
Amazon has already released multiple generations of Echo Show devices, and Google has made a couple of stabs at the category, too. A HomePod with a screen, whether released in 2024 or 2025, would be far from the first of its kind. However, the HomePod wasn’t a cutting-edge product when it was released either, and it’s still managed to carve out a niche.
We don’t know what a HomePod with a screen might cost, but assuming it includes a HomePod-esque speaker, an iPad-esque screen, and a cutting-edge iPhone processor, it seems likely that it will be priced well above the $299 Apple currently charges for the full-size screen-less HomePod. Apple’s original $349 HomePod flopped partly because it was priced too high relative to competitors and because it didn’t do a whole lot—a speaker that did more things could probably be priced higher without drawing as much criticism.
Apple’s initial pitch for the tvOS and the Apple TV as it currently exists was centered around apps. No longer a mere streaming box, the Apple TV would also be a destination for general-purpose software and games, piggybacking off of the iPhone’s vibrant app and game library.
That never really panned out, and the Apple TV is still mostly a box for streaming TV shows and movies. But the same App Store rule change that recently allowed Delta, PPSSPP, and other retro console emulators onto the iPhone and iPad could also make the Apple TV appeal to people who want a small, efficient, no-fuss console emulator for their TVs.
So far, few of the emulators that have made it to the iPhone have been ported to the Apple TV. But earlier this week, the streaming box got an official port of RetroArch, the sprawling collection of emulators that runs on everything from the PlayStation Portable to the Raspberry Pi. RetroArch could be sideloaded onto iOS and tvOS before this, but only using awkward workarounds that took a lot more work and know-how than downloading an app from the App Store.
Downloading and using RetroArch on the Apple TV is a lot like using it on any other platform it supports, for better or worse. ROM files can be uploaded using a browser connected to the Apple TV’s IP address or hostname, which will pop up the first time you launch the RetroArch app. From there, you’re only really limited by the list of emulators that the Apple TV version of the app supports.
The main benefit of using the Apple TV hardware for emulation is that even older models have substantially better CPU and GPU performance than any Raspberry Pi; the first-gen Apple TV 4K and its Apple A10X chip date back to 2017 and still do better than a Pi 5 released in 2023. Even these older models should be more than fast enough to support advanced video filters, like Run Ahead, to reduce wireless controller latency and higher-than-native-resolution rendering to make 3D games look a bit more modern.
Beyond the hardware, tvOS is also a surprisingly capable gaming platform. Apple has done a good job adding and maintaining support for new Bluetooth gamepads in recent releases, and even Nintendo’s official Switch Online controllers for the NES, SNES, and N64 are all officially supported as of late 2022. Apple may have added this gamepad support primarily to help support its Apple Arcade service, but all of those gamepads work equally well with RetroArch.
At the risk of stating the obvious, another upside of using the Apple TV for retro gaming is that you can also still use it as a modern 4K video streaming box when you’re finished playing your games. It has well-supported apps from just about every streaming provider, and it supports all the DRM that these providers insist on when you’re trying to stream high-quality 4K video with modern codecs. Most Pi gaming distributions offer the Kodi streaming software, but it’s frankly outside the scope of this article to talk about the long list of caveats and add-ons you’d need to use to attempt using the same streaming services the Apple TV can access.
Obviously, there are trade-offs. Pis have been running retro games for a decade, and the Apple TV is just starting to be able to do it now. Even with the loosened App Store restrictions, Apple still has other emulation limitations relative to a Raspberry Pi or a PC.
The biggest one is that emulators on Apple’s platforms can’t use just-in-time (JIT) code compilation, needed for 3D console emulators like Dolphin. These restrictions make the Apple TV a less-than-ideal option for emulating newer consoles—the Nintendo 64, Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation, PlayStation Portable, and Sega Saturn are the newest consoles RetroArch supports on the Apple TV, cutting out newer things like the GameCube and Wii, Dreamcast, and PlayStation 2 that are all well within the capabilities of Apple’s chips. Apple also insists nebulously that emulators must be for “retro” consoles rather than modern ones, which could limit the types of emulators that are available.
With respect to RetroArch specifically, there are other limitations. Though RetroArch describes itself as a front-end for emulators, its user interface is tricky to navigate, and cluttered with tons of overlapping settings that make it easy to break things if you don’t know what you’re doing. Most Raspberry Pi gaming distros use RetroArch, but with a front-end-for-a-front-end like EmulationStation installed to make RetroArch a bit more accessible and easy to learn. A developer could release an app that included RetroArch plus a separate front-end, but Apple’s sandboxing restrictions would likely prevent anyone from releasing an app that just served as a more user-friendly front-end for the RetroArch app.
Regardless, it’s still pretty cool to be able to play retro games on an Apple TV’s more advanced hardware. As more emulators make their way to the App Store, the Apple TV’s less-fussy software and the power of its hardware could make it a compelling alternative to a more effort-intensive Raspberry Pi setup.
Enlarge/ A blurry, ghostly Persona in visionOS 1.0. They should at least look less bad in visionOS 1.1.
Samuel Axon
Apple has released a long list of medium-sized software updates for most of its devices today. The macOS Sonoma 14.4, watchOS 10.4, tvOS 17.4, and visionOS 1.1 updates are all available now, and most of them add at least one or two major features as they fix multiple bugs and patch security vulnerabilities.
The visionOS 1.1 release is the first major update for Apple’s newest operating system, and as our coverage of the headset has demonstrated, there’s still plenty of low-hanging fruit to fix. Most notably for people who are trying to use the headset for work meetings, Apple says that there have been multiple changes to the look of Personas, the 3D avatars that show up in your place when you’re video chatting with the Vision Pro on your face. The update improves “hair and makeup appearance,” “neck and mouth representation,” and “rendering of the eyes,” and while it’s clear that it’s an improvement over the 1.0 release of Personas, the core uncanniness still seems to be intact. The Persona feature is still labeled as a beta.
Apple has also made tweaks to the appearance and functionality of the headset’s virtual keyboard, improved the Virtual Display feature’s Mac connectivity, and added a handful of mobile device management features for IT administrators.
Apple’s headlining feature for macOS 14.4 is the addition of new Unicode 15.1 emoji, plus podcast transcriptions in the Apple Music app. It’s unclear whether this release enables multiple external displays for users of the $1,599 M3 MacBook Pro, a feature that Apple announced alongside the new M3 MacBook Airs.
Apple Watch owners can look forward to the resolution of one annoying bug I’ve run into a few times on my own watch: a bug that would make the screen act as though it was receiving touch input even when you weren’t touching it. Sometimes referred to as a “ghost touch” or “phantom touch” bug, the only way to get it to go away was to reboot the watch. I haven’t noticed the bug since I installed one of the later watchOS 10.4 betas a couple of weeks ago.
Version 17.4 of the HomePod operating system now allows users to set their preferred music service, so telling Siri to play music will automatically use whatever service you want instead of defaulting to Apple Music unless you specify. The tvOS 17.4 update doesn’t appear to include any particular features or fixes of note.
All of the new releases follow iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4, which came out a few days ago with mostly minor changes unless you happened to live in the European Union. For European users, that update ushers in Apple’s first attempt at compliance with new regulations that require the company to allow the use of third-party app stores, alternate browsing engines, and sideloaded apps. These changes come with plenty of conditions and caveats, as Apple seeks to remain the ultimate arbiter of what software can and can’t run on iPhones and iPads.
Apple yesterday released iOS and iPadOS 17.3 as well as watchOS 10.3, tvOS 17.3, and macOS Sonoma 14.3 for all supported devices.
iOS 17.3 primarily adds collaborative playlists in Apple Music, and what Apple calls “Stolen Device Protection.” Collaborative playlists have been on a bit of a journey; they were promised as part of iOS 17, then added in the beta of iOS 17.2, but removed before that update went live. Now they’re finally reaching all users.
When enabled, Stolen Device Protection requires Face ID or Touch ID authentication “with no passcode fallback” for some sensitive actions on the phone.
And a related feature called Security Delay requires one use of Face ID or Touch ID, then a full hour’s wait, then another biometric authentication before certain particularly important actions can be performed, like changing the device’s passcode.
Other iOS 17.3 additions include support for AirPlay in participating hotels, an improved view for seeing the warranty status of all your devices, a new Unity wallpaper honoring Black History Month, and “crash detection optimizations.”
As is so often the case for these simultaneous operating system updates from Apple, iOS is the most robust. macOS 14.3 also adds the collaborative playlist feature and the AppleCare & Warranty Settings panel, but that’s about it as far as user-facing additions.
watchOS 10.3 adds a new 2024 Black Unity face that is meant to pair with a new watchband by the same name. And tvOS 17.3 simply reintroduces the previously removed iTunes Movie and TV Show Wishlist feature.
iOS 17.3 release notes
Stolen Device Protection
Stolen Device Protection increases security of iPhone and Apple ID by requiring Face ID or Touch ID with no passcode fallback to perform certain actions
Security Delay requires Face ID or Touch ID, an hour wait, and then an additional successful biometric authentication before sensitive operations like changing device passcode or Apple ID password can be performed
Lock Screen
New Unity wallpaper honors Black history and culture in celebration of Black History Month
Music
Collaborate on playlists allows you to invite friends to join your playlist and everyone can add, reorder, and remove songs
Emoji reactions can be added to any track in a collaborative playlist
This update also includes the following improvements:
AirPlay hotel support lets you stream content directly to the TV in your room in select hotels
AppleCare & Warranty in Settings shows your coverage for all devices signed in with your Apple ID
Crash detection optimizations (all iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models)
macOS 14.3 Sonoma release notes
Collaborate on playlists in Apple Music allows you to invite friends to join your playlist and everyone can add, reorder, and remove songs
Emoji reactions can be added to any track in a collaborative playlist in Apple Music
AppleCare & Warranty in Settings shows your coverage for all devices signed in with your Apple ID
