Apple has quietly reopened its “dot-six” beta lane, seeding developers with the first builds of iOS 18.6, iPadOS 18.6, macOS Sequoia 15.6, tvOS 18.6, watchOS 11.6, and visionOS 2.6 late on 16 June. The move gives testers a second track to run alongside the headline iOS 26 and macOS 26 betas unveiled at WWDC earlier this month, letting them validate apps against both today’s shipping OSes and tomorrow’s over-the-horizon overhaul.
Why Two Beta Tracks?
Apple typically keeps its current-generation operating systems moving with a handful of maintenance releases while the next major version is still baking. After pushing iOS 18.5 and macOS 15.5 to the public on 12 May, Cupertino is laying the groundwork for any bug fixes, security patches, and small feature tweaks it wants to deliver before the big autumn launches of iOS 19 and macOS 16.
The first build numbers tell the story: 22G5054d for iOS/iPadOS, 24G5054d for macOS, 22M5054b for tvOS, 22U5054b for watchOS, and 22O5754c for visionOS. Apple’s release notes don’t list headline features yet, but early testers expect incremental improvements to Apple Intelligence, the on-device AI suite that began rolling out in March, plus routine stability and performance tuning.
Apple emphasizes that these builds are developer-only and should not be installed on mission-critical devices. Early betas can introduce stability issues, battery drain, and compatibility breakages, so developers are urged to test on secondary hardware and keep complete backups before flashing new firmware.
Registered developers can grab the profiles now via Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates on iPhone or the Software Update pane in macOS System Settings; public-beta releases will follow once Apple is happy with stability.
With the 18.x line back in motion, Apple signals that users won’t have to wait until the autumn cycle for refinements and security fixes. For developers, the dual-track system offers an immediate playground to ensure their apps run smoothly across six operating systems and an expanding set of AI-powered features, a practical necessity as Apple’s ecosystem grows ever more complex.