When Will Apple Release the iOS 17.5 Beta? [Update: Now Available]

[MacRumors]

With iOS software releases, it is typical for Apple to be constantly iterating. When a new version of iOS comes out, a new iOS beta almost always follows the day after. iOS 17.4 was released on Tuesday, March 5, and no iOS 17.5 beta followed as is typical. So when might Apple provide the first iOS 17.5 beta?

It's now been more than three weeks since the launch of iOS 17.4, and pauses like this are unusual, but not unheard of. Sometimes there are droughts because of major features, or holidays, and in this case, it could be both.

Apple is still navigating the app ecosystem changes that were introduced in iOS 17.4, and there are tweaks coming. Apple planned to allow third-party apps to be downloaded only from alternative app marketplaces, but now alternative apps will be provided directly from websites too. The option to download an app from a website has not been introduced as of yet, and it is an unexpected change, so it likely requires some behind the scenes work. There are also other potential changes that Apple must make in the EU as the European Commission investigates its compliance, another factor that may be eating up resources.

This weekend marks the Easter holiday, and holidays can sometimes cause betas to be pushed back too.

When considering these factors, it makes some sense that we haven't yet had an iOS 17.5 beta. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Thursday that Apple's "beta 1 development finishes next week," which suggests that we could see a beta release next week or the week after.

Here are the wait times between .4 public releases and .5 first developer betas from prior years:

• iOS 13 - 7 days
• iOS 14 - 6 days
• iOS 15 - 22 days
• iOS 16 - 1 day

If iOS 17.5 is released on April 2, it will be 28 days between the prior release and the beta software, and if it comes a week after that, it will have been 35 days.

After the beta does go out, we'll likely see a release sometime during the month of May. Prior .5 public releases have happened on May 18, May 16, April 26, and May 20.

Update: Apple released the first beta of iOS 17.5 to developers on Tuesday, April 2.

Article Link: When Will Apple Release the iOS 17.5 Beta? [Update: Now Available]

 

[klasma]

Macrumors bot has iOS update anxiety.

 

[tomacintosh]

Apple so dead lately media gotta focus on them beta updates lol

 

[GrayFlannel]

What’s Gurman say?

 

[Fuzzball84]

I just don't think there's much in the way of interesting rumours at the moment... I think most of Apples device categories are so well established and have plateaued... that there's not much exciting going on.

Vision Pro is interesting... but its not for most people


If they had a new device, like an Apple TV (with M series SoC) focussed on gaming

Reintroduced iPod as a gaming handheld with 7 inch screen and a clip on controller interface.

Augmented reality glasses that do basic but clever overlays (on thin and light typical glasses)... like being able to flash up a message, a notification warning, weather warning...

A modular Mac mini, or studio, Pro... with a neat internal system for swapping out components with a custom interconnect

A Mac Micro... a Mac the size of a Raspberry Pi that is super efficient but powerful...

iPhone Dock... turn you iPhone into a Desktop by slotting it into a tiny dock system connected to TV or monitor...


Now then Id be super excited and their software would naturally be a lot more interesting in those use cases

 

[munpip214]

Probably waiting on getting closer to new iPads, plus it’s spring break for many

 

[tomacintosh]

I just don't think there's much in the way of interesting rumours at the moment... I think most of Apples device categories are so well established and have plateaued... that there's not much exciting going on.

Vision Pro is interesting... but its not for most people


If they had a new device, like an Apple TV (with M series SoC) focussed on gaming

Reintroduced iPod as a gaming handheld with 7 inch screen and a clip on controller interface.

Augmented reality glasses that do basic but clever overlays (on thin and light typical glasses)... like being able to flash up a message, a notification warning, weather warning...

A modular Mac mini, or studio, Pro... with a neat internal system for swapping out components with a custom interconnect

A Mac Micro... a Mac the size of a Raspberry Pi that is super efficient but powerful...

iPhone Dock... turn you iPhone into a Desktop by slotting it into a tiny dock system connected to TV or monitor...


Now then Id be super excited and their software would naturally be a lot more interesting in those use cases

They've turned into Pepsi days Apple

 

[iAppleOrchard]

it’s typical that we wait for the iOS .4 or .5 update every year.

Don’t worry, they just want to work on iOS 18 right now. I’m sure 17.5 is coming next week. I predicted this pause and I say next week is when we will get the updates back.

 

[timshundo]

Since they like releasing all OS betas at once my headcanon is that visionOS 1.2 is so packed with new QOL experimental features that it’s holding up the rest of the betas for more dev time.

 

[Realityck]

Next week, likely Tuesday April 2nd for iOS/iPadOS 17.5 beta. Yes it's been awhile since the last beta cycle ended. 🥱

 

[LilNasX]

hopefully they are making sure the ios for the new oled ipads is working well instead of working on a .5 release with limited features that nobody will care about come WWDC.

 

[AndiG]

I think that at the moment Appe HQ is on fire because of the EU investigation. Apple tried to circumvent the necessary changes somehow and now it seems that all their efforts are failing. And Apple knows for sure that the changes it made are not enough.
The EU fined Apple already $2 billion and there can be no doubt the EU will fine Apple hard if it doesn‘t comply with DMA.


To make this very clear: DMA violations can result in hefty fines: up to 10 percent of global turnover - and up to 20 percent for repeated offenses.
And when this happens, maybe the shareholders sue Apple, since Apple, Phil and Tim knowingly and willfully violated DMA - or should we call it gross negligence?

10-20% of the global annual turnover as a maximum fine means the $2 billion fine is only peanuts,

 

[Macaholic868]

Since they like releasing all OS betas at once my headcanon is that visionOS 1.2 is so packed with new QOL experimental features that it’s holding up the rest of the betas for more dev time.

Unfortunately for the rest of us iOS and iPadOS 17.4 were only a huge release for those in the EU. I suspect the rest of us aren’t going to see much of anything in 17.5 either as a result. IMO it’ll be almost exclusively bug fixes for issues introduced in 17.4 plus some more features intended to keep Apple on the right side of the DMA. While I’ve got my crystal ball out I also think the powers that be in the EU will have a field day with Apple’s ridicules third party App Store fee structure. The fees they are attempting to extract are so high it makes using an alternative App Store just about pointless. I doubt that’s going to hold up as their dubious intentions are beyond obvious. Their pathetic excuse for a fee structure would work here in the good old USA because our Supreme Court has legalized political bribery under the notion that money and speech are one and the same when it comes to politics when in fact the two couldn’t be further apart …. but I digress…..

 

[xiJulian_]

Apple so dead lately media gotta focus on them beta updates lol

honestly i can’t remember the last time i actually heard good news about Apple

 

[Dysnomia]

I hope they have the best developers all on iOS 18 and the rest that will be released this year. It's time to make a line in the sand and just fix what is wrong today. We need the next Snow Leopard again.

The Eu thing could be taking away from the developers time too, trying to play the political game that management is playing right now.

 

[Realityck]

I think that at the moment Appe HQ is on fire because of the EU investigation

I doubt it. Historically Apple has seen some longer periods of no seeding each week in March. If one looks at several of the previous .5 releases there was typical a 2 week lapse until after Easter for beta 2 as example.

This years pause probably has more to do with more effort put forth to implement what is part of iOS/iPadOS 17.5 beta and also whats coming in iOS/iPadOS 18 in 3 months.

 

[PlayUltimate]

iPhone Dock... turn you iPhone into a Desktop by slotting it into a tiny dock system connected to TV or monitor...

I always envisioned that this is where computing was headed. Connected with a BT keyboard and mouse and perhaps an Apple TV connected to a monitor. . . complete wireless solution.

 

[jimimac71]

Rather than quote the whole thing, I really like what Fuzzball84 said in post #5.
For my iPad 7, the end of iPad OS 17 is the end of support.
A 2 in 1 Chromebook is a laptop and tablet.
Besides a good 10¢ cigar, we also could use a hybrid MacPad. An iPad with keyboard should run Mac OS.

 

[scrapesleon]

They sure taking a long time to release a beta

 

[boswald]

Obviously there's a lot of changes for the EU, but I wonder what kind of things we can expect everywhere else? More fixes are always welcome, but anything new before iOS 18?

 

[macmac30]

With iOS software releases, it is typical for Apple to be constantly iterating. When a new version of iOS comes out, a new iOS beta almost always follows the day after. iOS 17.4 was released on Tuesday, March 5, and no iOS 17.5 beta followed as is typical. So when might Apple provide the first iOS 17.5 beta?

It's now been more than three weeks since the launch of iOS 17.4, and pauses like this are unusual, but not unheard of. Sometimes there are droughts because of major features, or holidays, and in this case, it could be both.

Apple is still navigating the app ecosystem changes that were introduced in iOS 17.4, and there are tweaks coming. Apple planned to allow third-party apps to be downloaded only from alternative app marketplaces, but now alternative apps will be provided directly from websites too. The option to download an app from a website has not been introduced as of yet, and it is an unexpected change, so it likely requires some behind the scenes work. There are also other potential changes that Apple must make in the EU as the European Commission investigates its compliance, another factor that may be eating up resources.

This weekend marks the Easter holiday, and holidays can sometimes cause betas to be pushed back too.

When considering these factors, it makes some sense that we haven't yet had an iOS 17.5 beta. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Thursday that Apple's "beta 1 development finishes next week," which suggests that we could see a beta release next week or the week after.

Here are the wait times between .4 public releases and .5 first developer betas from prior years:

• iOS 13 - 7 days
• iOS 14 - 6 days
• iOS 15 - 22 days
• iOS 16 - 1 day

If iOS 17.5 is released on April 2, it will be 28 days between the prior release and the beta software, and if it comes a week after that, it will have been 35 days.

After the beta does go out, we'll likely see a release sometime during the month of May. Prior .5 public releases have happened on May 18, May 16, April 26, and May 20.

Article Link: When Will Apple Release the iOS 17.5 Beta?

My guess is that it is all hands on deck getting iOS 18‘s AI features ready…

 

[Realityck]

They sure taking a long time to release a beta

The hurried release of iOS/iPadOS 17.4 on the March 5th with other OS's caught up on Match 7th and then some afterwards 17.4.1 patches for CVE issues March 21st, with it also being applied to MacOS on March 25th, showed they been busy March outside the usual beta cycle. Now we are almost to April real soon.

 

[yeah]

They are too busy adding more bugs and heavier battery drainage!

 

[now i see it]

Looking forward to iOS 18’s Artificial Idiocy

 

[Scott H]

With the delay in releasing iOS 17.5 beta 1 hopefully it will be extra good when it does release.