Apple Releases First Public Beta of iOS 17.6

Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 17.6 and iPadOS 17.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming a few days after the initial iOS and iPadOS 17.6 developer betas.

iOS 17
Public beta testers can get the beta by opening up the Settings app, going to the Software Update section, tapping on the "Beta Updates" option, and toggling on the iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 Public Beta. Signing up on Apple's beta testing website is required.

The new additions Apple promised for iOS 17 have all been implemented at this point, so it is not clear what will be included in iOS 17.6, and no features were discovered in the developer beta.

With Apple now shifting its focus to iOS 18, it is likely that iOS 17.6 will include bug fixes and other under-the-hood improvements.

Apple has also seeded the first public betas of upcoming watchOS 10.6 and tvOS 17.6 updates.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Shows Off a Key Reason to Upgrade to the iPhone 17

Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie. "Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says These 7 U.S. States Plan to Offer iPhone Driver's Licenses

Monday February 9, 2026 6:24 am PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future. To set up the...
m5 macbook pro deal

Why You Shouldn't Buy the Next MacBook Pro

Tuesday February 10, 2026 4:27 pm PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works. We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3

Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes, ...
Apple Logo Zoomed

Apple Expected to Launch These 10+ Products Over the Coming Months

Tuesday February 10, 2026 6:33 am PST by
It has been a slow start to 2026 for Apple product launches, with only a new AirTag and a special Apple Watch band released so far. We are still waiting for MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the iPhone 17e, a lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, long-rumored updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini, and much more. Apple is expected to release/update the following products...

Top Rated Comments

22 months ago

iOS 17.6 and succeeding updates could just be security fixes and under the hood improvements... Very little chance of new features since majority of focus is on iOS 18...
Good. I need them to iron out all the weird little issues I started getting in 17.5.1. I never would have thought an X.X.X release would cause so many new problems.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Reeneman Avatar
22 months ago

Yeah I'm hoping these can fix the bugs I have all over the place in iOS17. It still feels like this is a .0 or .1 release with how many issues still exist. Usually they (generally) had them ironed out this late.
What kind of bugs? Not going to protect Apple here but also annoyed by people who claiming for huge „bugs“ the whole time. An OS will never be 100% perfect.
You will neither find this with iOS 18, 19.2, 20.4 or whatever.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Reeneman Avatar
22 months ago
Why did you guys wait for so long?
iOS 17 haven’t been that terrible to wait for 10 months.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
22 months ago

I'm using my Logitech mouse a lot. Left mouse button just stops working until I completely restart my iPad.
Shortcuts simply stop working, until I restart the ipad.
Wierd vague system behaviour when rotating the screen.
Widgets stop working during the day.
Network problems, where my other devices have no problems at all, until I restart the device.
I use dual sim on my iPhone 15 pro: it's a pain in ios17, I have to restart multiple times, otherwise no network is found. Sometimes the network stack just crashes. All in all since iOS 17, working (I work on my iPad) has been a big pain in the you-know-what.
+ stage manager crashes a lot
+ language management is a mess, keyboard showing that i type in English but in reality it’s other language
+ spotlight unpredictable misses results
+ FaceTime crashes when i share screen
+ keyboard somehow stops from entering words in the same time system keys works fine

RESART RESTART RESTART
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
22 months ago

I am a bit concerned that this beta will not be as fully vetted as previous iOS17 updates. Seems like the bulk of the beta community will be concentrating on the iOS18 beta.
It’s like this nearly every year
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
22 months ago

What kind of bugs? Not going to protect Apple here but also annoyed by people who claiming for huge „bugs“ the whole time. An OS will never be 100% perfect.
You will neither find this with iOS 18, 19.2, 20.4 or whatever.
I'm using my Logitech mouse a lot. Left mouse button just stops working until I completely restart my iPad.
Shortcuts simply stop working, until I restart the ipad.
Wierd vague system behaviour when rotating the screen.
Widgets stop working during the day.
Network problems, where my other devices have no problems at all, until I restart the device.
I use dual sim on my iPhone 15 pro: it's a pain in ios17, I have to restart multiple times, otherwise no network is found. Sometimes the network stack just crashes. All in all since iOS 17, working (I work on my iPad) has been a big pain in the you-know-what.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)