Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 18.6 to Developers
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming over a month after Apple released iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5.
iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update.
With the iOS 18.6 update, Apple may bring Apple Intelligence to China for the first time. Apple is expected to partner with Alibaba and Baidu for AI features in the country, but it is not clear if this has been delayed because Apple is facing regulatory hurdles in China.
We don't know of any other new features expected for iOS 18.6, and Apple is winding down work on iOS 18 as it shifts focus to iOS 26. iOS 26 is in beta testing right now and it is set to be released in September.
Popular Stories
Apple has added a new "iPhone Handoff" feature to iOS 27 that will allow you to switch between two iPhones while using the same phone number on each device.
This functionality was briefly mentioned during the WWDC 2026 keynote in June, on a slide that listed hundreds of new features coming in iOS 27 and corresponding software updates, but Apple never shared any further details at the time.
...
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today further outlined what to expect from the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 set to be unveiled on September 9.
While it was initially rumored that Touch ID may be coming to the Apple Watch this year, Gurman reiterated that he does not expect the Series 12 or Ultra 4 to have any major design changes compared to the current Series 11 and Ultra 3 models.
...
Apple's former hardware engineering chief John Ternus became its CEO on Tuesday, and the company made a controversial decision on his very first day in charge.
As of Tuesday, Apple Maps users in the U.S. see the name "Lake America" instead of Lake Ontario for the Great Lake that straddles the New York—Ontario border.
Apple made this change after the U.S. Geographic Names Information...
