Apple has seeded the release candidate versions of iOS 14.7 and iPadOS 14.7, a sign that a full release of the operating systems will arrive in the near future.
The latest builds can be downloaded by developers in the beta-testing scheme via the Apple Developer Center, or as an over-the-air update for hardware already using earlier beta builds. A public beta version of the releases is expected to start arriving soon, and will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program website.
The release candidates follows the fourth round of betas from June 29, which in turn followed the third from June 14. The second round arrived on June 2, and the first round was on May 19.
The betas have largely consisted of maintenance and compatibility releases, with no real new features or major changes to the operating systems spotted so far. At the same time, Apple is conducting beta tests of milestone versions of the operating systems, including iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, and watchOS 8.
So far, the RC versions of tvOS 14.7 and watchOS 7.6 have yet to surface, but they are likely to follow iOS 14.7 in the coming days.
Patch notes for iOS 14.7 RC state the update includes these changes:
- MagSafe Battery Pack support for iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max
- Apple Card Family adds the option to combine credit limits and share one co-owned account with an existing Apple Card user
- Home app adds the ability to manage timers on HomePod
- Air quality information is now available in Weather and Maps for Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, South Korea, and Spain
- Podcasts library allows you to choose to see all shows or only followed shows
- Share playlist menu option missing in Apple Music
- Dolby Atmos and Apple Music lossless audio playback may unexpectedly stop
- Battery service message that may have disappeared after reboot on some iPhone 11 models is restored
- Braille displays could show invalid information while composing Mail messages
AppleInsider, and Apple itself, strongly recommend users don’t install the betas on to “mission-critical” or primary devices, as there is the remote possibility of data loss or other issues. Instead, testers should install betas onto secondary or non-essential devices, and to make sure there are sufficient backups of important data before updating.
