iOS 26 may be the center of attention for most people following Apple, but the company apparently has more in the works for iOS 18 before moving to the next major update. Per a new leak, it seems the first iOS 18.6 beta is coming soon.
iOS 18.6 likely the final noteworthy release before iOS 26 arrives
Apple kicked off its iOS 26 beta cycle last week following WWDC, but there’s an alternative beta coming soon.
Per a private X account who has shared reliable reports of Apple software before, the first iOS 18.6 beta appears to be coming soon.
The account shared the build number for iOS 18.6 beta 1: 22G5054d.
Though an exact timeframe for the new beta wasn’t shared, based on the poster’s history, it’s likely that we’ll see the software arrive any day now.
It’s unknown what new features might be included in the update.
Bug fixes and performance improvements will likely be a focus, but aside from that, one possibility is bringing Apple Intelligence support to China.
Reporting has indicated such support was previously delayed by US-China trade tensions. But perhaps any regulatory issues Apple was facing have been cleared.
Otherwise, Apple could always have a surprise feature or two to introduce. However, major changes should not be expected. Software updates this late in an OS life cycle tend to be small in scale, and focus on stability above all.
When the iOS 18.6 beta does arrive, testers currently running iOS 18.5 will have the option to install either the iOS 18.6 beta or move to the next-generation iOS 26 update.
Do you plan to run the iOS 18.6 beta? Let us know in the comments.
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