Beta 3 of iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, and MacOS Ventura 13.1 Available for Testing

Users active in the system software beta testing programs will find that Apple has released the third beta versions of iOS 16.2 for iPhone, MacOS Ventura 13.1 for Mac, and iPadOS 16.2 for iPad.

Developer beta builds are usually available first and soon followed by the same build issued to public beta testers

iOS 16.2 beta includes support for a medication widget and sleep widget for the lock screen, while iPadOS 16.2 beta includes support for external displays with Stage Manager on M1 or better iPads.

MacOS Ventura 13.1 beta, iPadOS 16.2 beta, and iOS 16.2 beta all include support for the Freeform app, which is a digital collaborative canvas app which allows for taking notes and doodling with multiple users, with each users contribution being tagged according to their changes or content.

The Freeform app will likely be the tentpole feature of these system software releases, but of course the betas are also going to patch various bugs and issues experienced by users on iPadOS, iOS, and macOS as well.

MacOS users actively enrolled in the beta system software testing program can find MacOS Ventura 13.1 beta 3 to download from the  Apple menu > System Settings > Software Update.

iPhone and iPad active beta testers will find the latest beta update for their device available from Settings app > General > Software Update.

Apple runs through multiple versions of system software as betas before issuing a final version to the general public, and being on beta 3 perhaps indicates we are roughly halfway through the beta development cycle. This could suggest the final versions of iOS 16.2, macOS Ventura 13.1, and iPadOS 16.2 could be released sometime in December.

The latest stable builds of Apple system software are iOS 16.1.1 for iPhone, iPadOS 16.1.1 for iPad, and macOS Ventura 13.0.1 for Mac.