Apple has rolled out second developer beta builds for its latest operating systems across Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches. These updates continue to showcase the new Liquid Glass design effects but remain early versions prone to performance, battery, and stability issues.
These second beta releases are generally more stable than the initial builds, which often contain critical bugs. For example, the first iOS 18 beta on an M1 iPad Air rendered the device unresponsive, requiring a full battery drain to recover. The current builds can be installed on most devices that support iOS and iPadOS 18, with some exceptions based on device age.
The macOS beta supports all Apple Silicon Macs and select Intel models from 2019 and 2020. Other betas are compatible with devices running the current versions, although Liquid Glass effects appear only on newer Apple TV 4K models; older Apple TVs will update but without these visual enhancements.
Users without spare devices are advised to wait for the public beta scheduled for July. It is essential to back up all important data before attempting any beta installations, as downgrading to earlier software versions can be complicated.
For Apple Silicon Mac owners interested in testing without dedicated hardware, setting up a virtual machine using apps such as VirtualBuddy or other tools utilizing Apple’s Virtualization framework is a viable option.