Apple Seeds Fourth iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 Betas to Developers

[MacRumors]

Apple today seeded the fourth betas of upcoming iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released the third betas.

Registered developers can download the betas from the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad by going to the General section and selecting Software Update.

iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 do not include new Siri capabilities, suggesting any Siri updates are being held until iOS 27. The Maps app has a Suggested Places feature for recommending locations to visit nearby based on trends and recent searches, plus Apple is laying the groundwork for ads in the Apple Maps app.

Apple is continuing to test end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and Android users. Apple included the feature in the iOS 26.4 beta, but removed it before the update launched to the public.

In the European Union, Apple is testing proximity pairing, notification forwarding, and Live Activities for third-party wearables like earbuds and smartwatches. The functionality will allow third-party wearables to have many of the same features as the Apple Watch and AirPods.

More detail on what's new in iOS 26.5 can be found in our iOS 26.5 beta features guide.

Update 1:05 pm: The update is now also available to public beta testers.

Article Link: Apple Seeds Fourth iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 Betas to Developers

 

[theeaglesfan005]

14.45GB on my 17PM... sheeesh... that's a beefy update size

 

[TestedLion]

Over 16GB on the 15 Pro Max. Build - 23F5069b

 

[Zenman12]

Macrumors doesn’t include everything that these iOS update get. That’s a pattern I’ve seen.

 

[Vahn21]

Dam my 17 pro max update is super beefy 28.31 gb

 

[thelion7]

Over 16GB on my 16 plus.

But not sure I switched from public back to developer or does it not make that much of a difference?

I know the RCs tend to be a more complete package but not sure if going between public and dev or vice versa causes your device to grab the full package from scratch again.

 

[YankeeSR23]

Over 14 GB for 17 Pro Max.

Hopefully it re-fixes the duplicate alerts I’m getting from ESPN and Apple News; beta 1 had the problem, beta 2 fixed it, but it’s back in beta 3.

 

[jacenskylo]

Hopefully this fixes the screenshot to PDF feature that isn't working on my work tablets

 

[TOM1211]

iPhone 17 pro 19.4 gb😱 how big are these ads in Apple Maps ??

 

[BabyBoii]

20gb on 16pro 🤯

 

[Jay Bly]

Just download it let’s see what we got

 

[rafaelrohden]

Just download it let’s see what we got

That takes courage.
I'll wait for it.

 

[smartmiller]

Battery lasts now until next WWDC!!! 🙂

 

[Tranel]

The update is much smaller than indicated. Nobody needs to download 20 GB. Don't know why Apple is not able to display the correct size of the update.

 

[roncron]

Macrumors doesn’t include everything that these iOS update get. That’s a pattern I’ve seen.

It's not Macrumors' fault. Apple's release notes accompanying the betas often lack details.

But once the beta is available, Macrumors and some tech YouTubers give them a thorough once-over and report on any changes, bug fixes, and new bugs they find. That usually takes a couple hours.