Apple releases developer beta 1 of iOS 17.6

Last week, Apple rolled out the first beta of iOS 18, but iOS 17 isn’t finished yet.

Today, the first developer beta of iOS 17.6 was released and is now available for download. New beta versions for other Apple platforms are also debuting: macOS 14.6, watchOS 10.6, iPadOS 17.6 and more.

Two summer beta versions: iOS 18 and iOS 17.6

It’s common for Apple to run two separate beta cycles in the summer: one for a new major iOS update released in the fall, and the other is usually the final version of the previous year’s update. This is exactly what is happening this year as well.

Both iOS 18 and iOS 17.6 are now available in developer beta. You can only run one on your device at a time, and most beta users will likely choose iOS 18.

However, if you want to run the latest iOS beta but don’t want to risk potential performance and stability issues, iOS 17.6 may be a better choice.

For now, it is not known whether iOS 17.6 will introduce any new features. The last major release of iOS 17, version 17.5 last month, introduced new Pride wallpapers, a Quartiles game for News+ subscribers, offline Apple News content, and several other changes such as online distribution of the app in the EU.

We’ll update this post as details emerge about new features in the first developer beta of iOS 17.6.

Have you installed iOS 17.6 or one of the new beta versions? Please let us know of any changes you may find.