Could the iOS 18.1 Public Beta, available now, be more anticipated than the first iOS 18 beta that dropped earlier this summer? If you own an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro model — and you’re not a registered developer — this is your first opportunity to try out the initial batch of much-hyped Apple Intelligence features such as the Clean Up tool in Photos to remove unwanted distractions and summaries of mail and text messages. If nothing else, you get the new full-screen Siri animation. If your phone is an iPhone 15 or older, you can still try out new features such as pausing video while shooting and recording phone calls.
But before you start that download, I’m here to remind you of the “beta” part of “public beta.” Prerelease software is unfinished, and even though a public beta means Apple is confident enough to seed it on several thousand iPhones, the goal is to see how the update fares before it’s deployed on millions of iPhones. And although the iOS 8.1 developer beta has been pretty stable, one never knows what bugs could slip through.
For more on what iOS 18 is bringing to the iPhone, make sure you check out everything Apple announced at its September “Glowtime” event and how Apple Intelligence will affect the way we use Apple devices.
A positive word about installing the iOS 18.1 public beta
The public beta is more stable than the developer betas, which Apple has steadily released since the beginning of June, and are intended for… developers.
But “more stable” isn’t the same as “rock solid.” Apple is still adding and changing features in the iOS 18.1 betas, which Apple says will arrive in October.
If you do decide to install the iOS 18.1 public beta, I recommend doing it on a separate iPhone that isn’t using your main personal phone. iOS 18.1 will work with models as old as the iPhone SE (second generation) and iPhone XR, so reach into the back of your tech drawer and put that forgotten iPhone into service.
Also, make sure you have backups of your data. And if things go sideways, learn how to revert back to iOS 17.
Bugs are part of the iOS 18.1 public beta
Now, to discuss why upgrading to the iOS public beta might be a bad idea.
Software bugs at the development stage are to be expected — in fact, that’s kinda the point. Now is the time for bugs to skitter into the light so developers can catch them and Apple can fix them before the final release. Opening the public beta to more testers helps flush out odd interactions with a much larger pool of iPhones and third-party apps.
When it comes to bugs, they can vary across the spectrum. You could face connectivity issues with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, or end up with third-party applications crashing from time to time. Features that work perfectly on iOS 18 might not be up to par on iOS 18.1, even if they aren’t necessarily tied to new iOS 18.1 features. And runaway background processes could keep the system running hotter than normal, decreasing not just how long the phone operates on a battery charge, but potentially stressing the lifespan of the battery itself. To be fair, I’ve never dealt with any show-stopping, brick-your-phone bugs in a beta — usually they’re a series of annoyances that can grate on you after a while. But all of this is perfectly normal in developer and public betas.
But if you don’t want to deal with bugs and other issues that could make your phone more difficult to use, you probably don’t want the iOS 18.1 public beta on your primary iPhone.
Your battery life may worsen
Did you recently buy a recommended portable charger for your iPhone? Expect to make more use of it while running beta software. Energy efficiency is usually the last thing Apple’s developers optimize, because the priority at this point is to make sure features work and bugs are stamped out.
An iOS update also triggers a host of internal indexing, which consumes a lot of energy for a few hours or days after installation. The Photos app, for example, updates its database of recognized people, scans images for new recognizable objects or scenes for search purposes and looks for duplicates.
Betas can be tough on batteries.
Performance may take a hit
Partially due to the reindexing of gigabytes of data on your phone, the iOS 18.1 public beta will almost certainly not deliver the performance you might be expecting. Processor-intensive apps and games also need to be tuned to work with the new iOS, so stutters and glitches are normal.
Game Mode is a new feature for iOS (it first appeared in macOS Sonoma) that redirects resources to improve frame rates and Bluetooth latency, so the most demanding games might perform better than under iOS 17 or iOS 18. However, Game Mode is works at a low level and could be interrupted by beta components.
Game Mode can improve performance in demanding games, but beta software could interrupt such low-level processes.
Not all new iOS 18 features are there yet
We already know many of the razzle-dazzle Apple Intelligence features won’t be available right away, even though iOS 18.1 gives us the first few to play with.
Such is the life cycle of development: some features get put on the back burner so others can be completed. Last year Apple announced two exciting media features, Collaborative Playlists in the Music app and AirPlay in Hotels, which didn’t roll out until January and April 2024, respectively.
I know it’s tough to be patient when future features are just a download away. But I also don’t want you to be burned (as I have in the past).
For more about iOS 18, see how the new Passwords app will work across all your devices.
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