Apple Seeds First Public Betas of iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 With Universal Control, Face ID With Mask Support and More - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Seeds First Public Betas of iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 With Universal Control, Face ID With Mask Support and More

by

Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 updates to public beta testers, with the software coming just a day after the launch of the developer betas.

iOS 15
iOS and iPadOS 15.4 can be downloaded over the air after the proper profile from Apple's public beta testing website has been installed on an iPhone or iPad.

iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 are major updates. iOS 15.4 brings a new feature for unlocking your iPhone with Face ID even when wearing a mask, and iPadOS 15.4 introduces Universal Control. When paired with a Mac running macOS Monterey 12.3, ‌Universal Control‌ allows multiple Macs and iPads to be controlled with a single cursor and keyboard, and it's super simple and intuitive to use. ‌Universal Control‌ requires macOS Monterey 12.3, which does not yet appear to be available for public beta testers.


The betas also bring new Emoji 14 characters, an Apple Card widget, a keyboard brightness Control Center option on ‌iPad‌, support for on-device custom email domain setup, easier access to SharePlay, and tons more.

We have a full list of everything new in iOS 15.4 available in our iOS 15.4 features guide. Apple has also released the first tvOS 15.4 public beta.

Related Forum: iOS 15

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by
Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...
Read Full Article
Instagram Feature 2

PSA: Instagram Encrypted Messaging Ends on Friday, May 8

Tuesday May 5, 2026 8:24 am PDT by
Instagram will remove end-to-end encryption for direct messages between users from May 8, 2026. When the date comes around, Meta will potentially be able to see the contents of all messages between users on the social media platform. Encrypting messages has been an optional feature in Instagram since 2023, but in March of this year the social media platform quietly updated a help page to say ...
Read Full Article • 54 comments
Apple Event Logo

Apple Just Released a New Accessory

Monday May 4, 2026 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today released a new Pride Edition Sport Loop for the Apple Watch. The band features a rainbow design with 11 colors of woven nylon yarns. The new Pride Edition Sport Loop is available to order now on Apple.com and in the Apple Store app in 40mm, 42mm, and 46mm sizes, and it will be available at Apple Store locations starting later this week. In the U.S., the band costs $49. There...
Read Full Article

Top Rated Comments

krspkbl Avatar
krspkbl
56 months ago
looks like i'm joining the beta program again. i need dat face mask unlock.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fwmireault Avatar
fwmireault
56 months ago

if you see the differences of face id hardware between iPhone 12 & 11, then you will see its almost identical. Besides A13 & A14 bionic chip both are very powerful. so Apple is intentionally doing this to compel customers to upgrade their iPhone just like when they added night mode on iPhone 11 but not on iPhone X & XS though they were capable of having night mode.
You are talking about cosmetic differences, we don’t know if there were any changes under the hood. If Apple wanted to intentionally limit this feature, why would they allow it on iPhone 12? They could only allow it on the latest iPhone series. It doesn’t make sens to limit the feature specifically to last year models without an hardware limitation
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vertsix Avatar
vertsix
56 months ago

How’s stability so far, anyone?
its pretty gewd. i normally avoid all betas, but i jumped ship on this one because there was a lot of features i wanted to try.

no issues with stability so far
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fwmireault Avatar
fwmireault
56 months ago

this update is nothing for me as I am currently using iPhone 11. its very sad that how greedy Apple have become.
There is only one feature that is not avaible on iPhone 11, and it’s probably because of hardware limitation or greater security risks on iPhone X/XS/XR/11. The rest of iOS 15.4 is still a good upgrade for everyone
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BWhaler Avatar
BWhaler
56 months ago
Really looking forward to this release.

These releases are a reminder that even though fans, media, tech pundits obsess over hardware, it’s software that really moves the dial year-to-year. Even Apple has lost the right balance, which is understandable since they make their money on hardware. But to be great at hardware, you need great software. And to make a ton of money at services, you have to be great at software.

I used to buy tons of music and books from Apple. But iTunes was so buggy for so many years with confusing, half-baked interface, I just moved to Spotify. Same with movies many years later. I used to buy a ton of movies, but the library tab doesn’t work with large libraries, so I rent movies through Verizon or Xbox now.

I hope Apple really gets the balance back. Great software will feed the revenue ecosystem if you let it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
midkay Avatar
midkay
56 months ago
How’s stability so far, anyone?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments