Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 updates to public beta testers, providing the software to the general public. Today's beta comes two weeks after Apple released the first public betas.
Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's free beta testing program can download the iOS and iPadOS 16.2 betas over the air after installing the proper certificate from the Public Beta website.
iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 introduce the Freeform app, which can be used for jotting down notes, sketching, drawing, brainstorming ideas, creating mood boards, and more. Multiple people can work on the same Freeform board, with changes synced for all participants in real time.
For the iPad, the update brings external display support to the Stage Manager multitasking feature, allowing up to eight apps to be used at once. External display support is available for the M1 and M2 iPad models.
There is a new Home app architecture coming in iOS and iPadOS 16.2, which Apple says is designed to bring faster, more reliable performance, especially in homes with a lot of smart home accessories. The new architecture requires the HomePod 16.2 beta software, and it causes the Home app not to work with devices updated to iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, or macOS Ventura 13.1.
Unintentional Emergency SOS calls can be reported to Apple in iOS 16.2, and there are a few other minor changes that can be found in our iOS 16.2 feature guide.
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker.
According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found.
Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports.
In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future.
"I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta.
Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre.
Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
Public beta testers, if you're not currently on beta 1, or maybe even if you are, please check out the macrumors forum thread on 16.2 beta 2 before installing. There seems to be a greater than usual number of reports of problems, especially with frame drops or stuttering on iPhones with promotion. A fair number of developers who installed beta 2 are going back to beta 1 or 16.1 public release.
(That said, there are plenty of developers who are having little to no problems with beta 2; it just seems like the number with problems is higher than normal for a second beta on a .2 release.)
I cannot wait to use FreeForm! I tried some of the other brainstorming apps out there a couple months back, and each of them had different issues… I think Apple is going to get it right!
* Can’t delete boards while offline, or if iCloud data is disabled for Freeform. (100294085) Workaround: Go to Settings (System Setting on macOS) > Apple ID > iCloud, then in the Apps using iCloud section, toggle Freeform to On. * Adding or removing collaborators can fail while attempting to change share settings. (101186059) Workaround: Close the share sheet and try to add or remove the participants again.
[HEADING=2]Keyboard[/HEADING] [HEADING=3]Resolved in iOS & iPadOS 16.2 beta 2[/HEADING]
* Fixed: When typing in Chinese Pinyin, selecting an option from the candidate bar is unresponsive. (73513207)
* While using Stage Manager with an External Display, dragging a second window to the workspace incorrectly hides the Recent Apps list—shifting all windows in the workspace to the right. (98540114)
[HEADING=2]TV App[/HEADING] [HEADING=3]Resolved in iOS & iPadOS 16.2 beta 2[/HEADING]
* Fixed: Play tracking (Up Next, and Top Shelf Update) won’t work for all platforms. (101258095)
[HEADING=2]SwiftUI[/HEADING] [HEADING=3]New Features in iOS & iPadOS 16.2 beta 2[/HEADING]
* Disable animations of NavigationStack push and pop by wrapping path mutation in withTransaction(transaction) { … } where transaction has disablesAnimations set to true. (88993253)
[HEADING=3]Resolved in iOS & iPadOS 16.2 beta 2[/HEADING]
* Fixed: Programmatically popping multiple views from a NavigationStack, by manipulating its path binding, now animates. Use with Transaction to override this behavior. (96852321)
[/SPOILER]
Released yesterday to devs, today to PB testers, mobile Safari is now 16.2 iOS 16.2 beta 2 (20C5043e) - November 8, 2022 iPadOS 16.2 beta 2 (20C5043e) - November 8, 2022 macOS 13.1 beta 2 (22C5044e) - November 8, 2022 watchOS 9.2 beta 2 (20S5342d) - November 8, 2022 tvOS 16.2 beta 2 (20K5342d) - November 8, 2022
