How to Install iOS 15 Developer Beta on iPhone

Apple introduced iOS 15 at the 2021 WWDC event, and its early build is already available for developers to download and install. If you’re a developer yourself, or just have a dev account, you probably want to try out iOS 15 beta and install it onto an iPhone so that you can check it out.

While iOS 15 dev beta is aimed at developers, technically anyone can get into the developer program by paying a $99 annual fee. Don’t want to spend money to test out an early build? No problem, Apple will roll out the public beta in July.

Interested in taking a first look at the latest piece of software that Apple has to offer for their iPhones? We’re here to help. All you need to do is read along as we’ll guide you on installing the iOS 15 developer beta on your iPhone.

Requirements For iOS 15 Developer Beta Installation

First, you need to check if your iPhone supports iOS 15. To keep it simple, if your iPhone is running iOS 14 right now, you’re good to proceed since all iOS 14 devices are capable of running iOS 15 as well. All iPhone models starting with the iPhone 6S that came out six years ago are compatible with the latest firmware.

As we mentioned earlier, you’ll need a registered developer account to install iOS 15 right now. It will give you access to the developer beta profile. If you’re not part of the program and you’re willing to pay for it, feel free to enroll in the Apple Developer Program. It takes just a few minutes, though it will cost you the annual fee. Again, the public beta in July onwards will be free.

Before Updating to iOS 15 Beta

Back up all the data on your iPhone to either iCloud or iTunes/Finder on your computer. This is the most important step before you begin installing any major iOS update on your iPhone. Major beta updates can potentially break your device and result in data loss when things go wrong. However, if you have a backup ready, you’ll be able to recover your data within minutes and restore your iPhone’s state.

How to Install iOS 15 Developer Beta on iPhone

Do keep in mind that this is a very early build of iOS and not recommended for everyday use. Let’s take a look at the steps:

1. Launch Safari on your iPhone and head over to developer.apple.com/download. Sign in with your registered Apple developer account and download the iOS 15 developer profile on your device.
2. Once downloaded, open the Settings app on your iPhone. You’ll be able to see a new option called “Profile Downloaded” right below your Apple ID name. If you can’t find it, go to General -> Profile in Settings.
   
   
3. Next, you’ll find the iOS 15 beta profile that you just downloaded. Tap on “Install” to continue.
   
   
4. Now, read the agreement and tap on “Install” again. It should be done in a couple of seconds. Restart your iPhone if prompted.
   
   
5. Now, go to General -> Software Update from the Settings app and check for new updates. You’ll now see that the iOS 15 Developer Beta is available. Tap on “Download and Install” to begin the update process.
   
   

This could take a little while to complete, so be patient. The iPhone will boot to iOS 15 when finished.

Once your iPhone reboots after the update process, you’ll see a new welcome screen, similar to the Hello screensaver from the new iMacs. When you’re on the home screen, you’ll see two new apps: Feedback Assistant and Magnifier. You cannot uninstall Feedback Assistant as long as you have the beta firmware installed, since that’s what you provide feedback to Apple with about the beta.

We were focusing on the iPhones in this particular procedure, but if you own an iPad, you can follow similar steps to update to iPadOS 15 beta too. Despite being different devices, the procedure is almost identical since iPadOS is just iOS relabeled for the iPad, with some extra features for a more refined tablet experience, different multitasking, Apple Pencil support, and some other optimizations for a larger screen.

If you’re not sure what you’re getting into, don’t install this early build. If you can handle the potentially negative experiences like buggy behavior, app crashes due to unsupported software, and other early build-related issues, then sure, go ahead. If you’re more casual user, it’s probably a good idea to wait until Apple rolls out the iOS 15 public beta in July.

Facing any major problems after the update? Regret updating to iOS 15? No worries. You can still roll back the software to the latest public build using an IPSW file on your computer and then restore from a previous iCloud or local backup to retrieve all the lost data.

Hopefully, you were able to update your iPhone to iOS 15 without any complications. What are your first impressions on the latest iteration of iOS? Did you check out the all-new Safari browser? What’s the feature that you’re most excited about? Share with us your experiences, drop your personal opinions, and leave your valuable feedback in the comments section down below.