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 September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed.
French blog Consomac also reported on this topic.
The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black.
Images Credit: Consoma ...
Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions.
The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said.
It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...
Friday September 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone Air is equipped with Apple's custom C1X modem for cellular connectivity, all of the iPhone 17 models are outfitted with Qualcomm modems still.
A teardown video shared on Chinese platform Bilibili today (via Reddit) appears to confirm the iPhone 17 Pro Max is equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X80 modem in particular. The same modem is likely used in the iPhone 17 and iPhone ...
Apple's new iPhones launch today, and there are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to protecting your new device from drops and scratches. In this article, we're taking a look at some of the best options for iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Air cases, as well as a few charging accessories.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
Wednesday September 17, 2025 2:56 pm PDT by Juli Clover
It's been two days since iOS 26 was released, and Apple's new Liquid Glass design is even more divisive than expected.
Any major design change can create controversy as people get used to the new look, but the MacRumors forums, Reddit, Apple Support Communities, and social media sites seem to feature more criticism than praise as people discuss the update.
Complaints
There are a long...
Friday September 19, 2025 8:39 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
YouTube channel REWA Technology today shared an iPhone 17 Pro teardown video, offering a closer look inside the model with a SIM card tray.
We are still waiting for repair website iFixit to share a more comprehensive teardown of the latest iPhone models, but this video provides a good look in the meantime.
The device features various internal design changes, including larger rear camera...
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)
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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
