Apple is getting ready to ship iOS 16 in September and has reportedly finished the development of the first public release. Apart from iOS 16, the Cupertino giant will also seed watchOS 9 to the public next month.
iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura will reportedly arrive a month later in October.
Development on first iOS 16 public release has concluded
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, in the latest edition of the “Power On” newsletter, says that Apple engineers finished working on the first iOS 16 public release “this past week.”
Apple has so far seeded six iOS 16 betas since its announcement in early June. While the first few builds packed a lot of changes and enhancements, the sixth beta was light on them. With the code for the first public release finalized, don’t expect the remaining iOS 16 betas to introduce any significant changes. Instead, they will focus on fixing the lingering bugs and issues for optimum stability.
Even when iOS 16 drops in September, remember that not all the announced features will be available at launch. You will have to wait for iOS 16.1 or iOS 16.2 to try out Live Activities, Matter support, and Freeform. Nonetheless, iOS 16 has plenty of new features to play around with, including a customizable lock screen, enhanced Messages and Mail app, Live Text for videos, and more.
iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura are coming in October
Rumors indicate Apple could hold an event on September 7 to announce the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8. Going by its track record, it should also announce iOS 16 and watchOS 9’s release date at the same event.
Gurman also confirms that Apple will seed macOS Ventura and iPadOS 16 in October. They will release alongside the M2 iPad Pro and possibly new MacBook Pros.
This would be the first time Apple will not drop major new iOS and iPadOS builds simultaneously since 2019. The company has reportedly had to push back iPadOS 16’s release due to Stage Manager-related delays.
