With WWDC last month, we saw everything Apple had in store software-wise for this year. All of it is coming to laptops and mobile devices later this year, but while that happens, we still have beta software to try out. Now, Apple has released the very first public betas, although you should still wait to check out this pre-release software.

Apple has just released the very first public betas for its newest versions of macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS. These aren't the first beta releases for iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and so on, but they are the first ones marked as "public beta." They should be more stable and suitable for real-world use than the initial releases. If you really want to try the new features before everyone else, this is now the time.

The iOS 18 update comes with new features such as improved home screen customization, RCS support, a redesigned Photos app, and more. The new macOS Sequoia update adds iPhone remote access with drag-and-drop support, iPhone notification mirroring, window tiling, and other improvements. These builds don't appear to come with anything new we haven't seen before, but we're still a couple of months away from a stable release. Notably, all Apple Intelligence features are still missing, which are some of the biggest changes in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.

While these builds are a little safer, we still wouldn't advise you to throw them into your phone or laptop. They're still pre-release builds, and just because they have been tested and should be mostly stable and bug-free, doesn't mean you should just take Apple's word for it. There can always be some deal-breaking bugs that we don't know about. It's always good practice to just wait until the stable update rolls around, and that should happen by September. If you really want to give this a shot, and you don't want to break your current phone, we suggest using a spare device that you don't mind breaking for that purpose.

You can sign up for the betas at Apple's website. When the final updates are ready later this year, you can update without wiping your device.