Apple issues beta 5 for watchOS 4.2.2, beta 6 for macOS 10.13.3, beta 7 for iOS 11.2.5

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone
Three new betas have been released by Apple for developer testing, with new versions of iOS 11.2.5, macOS 10.13.3 and watchOS 4.2.2 now available.




Apple released the sixth beta of iOS 11.2.5 on Wednesday. The current version has a very small numerical increment in the build number versus the last one, so release is imminent just based on that -- but Apple has already confirmed that there will be a consumer-facing release on the week of Jan 21.

On Tuesday, Apple released the fifth beta of macOS High Sierra 10.13.3, and this release has a similarly small increase in the build number as Friday's iOS 11.2.5.

All of the the updates are "sub-point" releases, so it remains unlikely that major new features are coming to the updates. Apple usually keeps small version increments limited to bug fixes and small tweaks, with the most likely addition to the new betas being fixes for the "Meltdown" and "Spectre" vulnerabilities.

The release notes remain nearly empty, and contain no testing notes.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    The more betas the better the chances of a very stable release. More eyes on the code, more use in the field by developers. This is good news actually.
    chiamagman1979
  • Reply 2 of 12
    jabohnjabohn Posts: 582member
    There is no beta 6 for macOS. This was reported in error.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    macseekermacseeker Posts: 545member
    Where is the sixth beta for macOS 10.13.3?  It's currently 12:40 PM PST at the time of this post.  Was it pulled?
  • Reply 4 of 12
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,861administrator
    macseeker said:
    Where is the sixth beta for macOS 10.13.3?  It's currently 12:40 PM PST at the time of this post.  Was it pulled?

  • Reply 5 of 12
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,861administrator

    jabohn said:
    There is no beta 6 for macOS. This was reported in error.
    Incorrect. See above.
    edited January 2018
  • Reply 6 of 12
    jabohnjabohn Posts: 582member
    It was not available to everyone until just now.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    macseekermacseeker Posts: 545member
    Mike Wuerthele said:
    macseeker said:
    Where is the sixth beta for macOS 10.13.3?  It's currently 12:40 PM PST at the time of this post.  Was it pulled?

    I see it now.  Thanks.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,371member
    It's interesting that this iOS 11.2.5 beta looks like a full image package (> 2GB on iPad Pro). Previous betas were less than 200KB each so this may effectively be a point level GM and feature complete, which makes sense if they're releasing 11.2.5 to the public next week. 
  • Reply 9 of 12
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,861administrator
    jabohn said:
    It was not available to everyone until just now.
    It was available when we wrote the story, as it was one of my screenshot choices. It is possible it went offline for a while, but we didn't see it go.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    magman1979magman1979 Posts: 1,293member
    Anyone here installed the macOS 10.13.3 beta can tell if it seems more reliable and / or smoother running than .2 was?
  • Reply 11 of 12
    hrguyhrguy Posts: 24member
    If the iOS update is a ‘full package’ as Dewme suggests, can anyone speculate if it addresses the iPad Pro charging problem related to keyboard cases? There are lots of reports that charging stops when the keyboard is connected to Smart Connect, especially for Logitech keyboards, even when plugged into power via Lightning cable. This is also my experience since the first iOS 11 update.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,371member
    hrguy said:
    If the iOS update is a ‘full package’ as Dewme suggests, can anyone speculate if it addresses the iPad Pro charging problem related to keyboard cases? There are lots of reports that charging stops when the keyboard is connected to Smart Connect, especially for Logitech keyboards, even when plugged into power via Lightning cable. This is also my experience since the first iOS 11 update.
    I have two iPad Pros and each one has an Apple Smart Keyboard attached and each one is connected via Lightning to the same smart charging station (RAVpower 60W) and I have not seen any issues with iPads of any type not charging, keyboards or not. A while back I had these same devices connected to my Mac via a powered USB3 hub with smart charging ports and I did see intermittent issues with iPads (Pro and otherwise) not charging with or without a keyboard attached, but that turned out to be a problem with the USB3 hub. I'm currently working with the USB3 hub manufacturer to troubleshoot this issue. Since iTunes device management was neutered a while back there are actually very few reasons to connect iDevices by USB to Macs anymore but I still need to do it for development purposes so I'm not giving up yet. In the meantime putting all of my iDevices on a smart charging station and syncing via WiFi (if at all) works for me.

    Regarding the latest beta, the installation procedure absolutely looks like a full package because it goes through a few extra setup steps and allows you to opt-out of data collection during the installation process. Incremental betas always turn data collection ON with no user option to change it and you must explicitly turn it off using Privacy settings if you don't want it enabled.
    hrguy
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