RC of iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, MacOS Ventura 13.3, Available for Beta Testers

The Release Candidate (RC) builds of iOS 16.4, MacOS Ventura 13.3, and iPadOS 16.4 have been released to users participating in the beta testing programs for Apple system software.

Release Candidate builds are typically the finalized version of a beta cycle before the software is released to the general public, suggesting that the final versions of macOS Ventura 13.3, iOS 16.4, and iPadOS 16.4 are set to be made available soon, perhaps between now and sometime next week, though Apple often releases software updates on Tuesdays making March 28 a reasonable guess.

iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, and macOS Ventura 13.3 include bug fixes and enhancements, and some minor new features along with new Emoji icons. iOS 16.4 will include voice isolation for cell phone calls, and both iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 will add support for Safari push notifications (a feature the Mac has had in Safari for a long time).
iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, and macOS Ventura 13.3 all include 21 new Emoji icons, which include a donkey, ginger root, hair pick, goose, maracas, hand gestures, jellyfish, moose, pea pod, flute, amongst others.

Users in either the public beta or developer beta programs can find the RC builds available to download now through the software update mechanisms.

For iPhone and iPad users in the beta programs, the RC update is available to download via Settings > General > Software Update..

For Mac users in the beta programs, the RC update can be downloaded through  Apple menu > System Settings > Software Update.

iOS 16.4 RC Release Notes

Release notes included with iOS 16.4 RC (and iPadOS 16.4 RC minus any iPhone specific features) are as follows:

This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

– 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
– Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
– Voice Isolation for cellular calls prioritizes your voice and blocks out ambient noise around you
– Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
– VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
– Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
– Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent’s device
– Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home
– Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models

The latest versions of system software available to the general public are currently iOS 16.3.1 for iPhone, iPadOS 16.3.1 for iPad, iOS 15.7.3 & iOS 12.5.7 for older iPhone and iPad models,, macOS Ventura 13.2.1 for Mac, macOS Monterey 12.6.3 for Mac, and macOS Big Sur 11.7.4 for Mac.