July 12 update: this post, first published on July 11, was updated with more information, including a new report from Bloomberg.
Apple announced the next-generation of iPhone software, iOS 27, at its Wordwide Developers Conference in June. It’s still in developer beta, but if everything goes according to plan, the first public beta, when many more people will try it out, should land any day now. Here’s what’s coming and when. And there’s now a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman to add to the conviction that the public beta is almost here.
iOS 27 Schedule To Date
The story so far is that the first developer beta of iOS 27 which, like other developer betas is available to all, for free (details here), was released on Monday, June 8. That was the same day as the WWDC keynote.
The second beta landed on Monday, June 22, and the third on Monday, July 6. Talk about regular as clockwork. Every two weeks, on the dot. Here’s where it gets interesting.
In 2022, 2023 and 2024, Apple released the first public beta exactly a week after dev beta 3. Actually, in 2022, the public beta was just five days after the developer beta.
The 2025 iOS Schedule
However, something different happened last year: it was after the fourth developer beta (released on July 22, 2025) that the first public beta appeared, on July 24. It looked like Apple was taking its time with the all-new Liquid Glass design change.
All of which says that unless this year is a repeat of the 2025 schedule, there’s a strong chance that the iOS 27 first public beta will land on Monday, July 13 or Tuesday, July 14.
I think that’s the timetable Apple is following, because numerous sources have praised the software, including Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who reported he’d been using the new Apple software. Since the first versions were released at WWDC, and in terms of bugs, they’ve been pretty solid,” he said.
On Sunday, July 12, in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman went further in describing the public beta and predicting its arrival. “The first public betas are coming this week, I’m told,” he reported.
He also said that he has run all three beta versions of the next operating system, that is for iPhone, iPad and Mac. He again praised the solidity of the developer beta releases. “As of now, I’m not seeing any noticeable quirks and these updates — particularly iOS, iPadOS and macOS — feel quite a bit snappier and more reliable than their predecessors,” he said.
On the other hand, he also described them as “Snow Leopard-like updates, meaning they’re more about making software run more smoothly and reliably. There’s not much new here other than the Siri and other artificial intelligence features,” he went on.
He said that those into these AI updates, such as the new Siri AI, should love the new operating systems, but also pointed out that they’re not going to be available in the European Union just yet. I think there’s a lot coming, as you can read below, but Gurman felt that beyond AI changes, “there’s not a ton to look forward to.”
iOS 27 Public Beta: Should You Upgrade?
Solid or not, this is still beta software. I’d avoid installing it on a critical device such as one you use every day. There will be some bugs and if they affect the particular app you need right now, it will be inconvenient.
What’s In The iOS 27 Public Beta?
Assuming it is largely the same as the third dev beta, which is a reasonable thing to imagine, the first public beta will have a lot in it. Top of the list is Siri AI, a smarter version of the personal assistant, which now comes with its own Siri app. Note that you may have to sign up to a waitlist for Siri AI.
There are new child safety features with Screen Time allowing parents to see the apps and websites children are using, with customizable schedules and granular controls.
Apple has added AI photo editing tools which can extend images, for instance, organized tabs in Safari, upgraded Image Playground, more accessible Shortcuts and much more.