3rd Beta of iOS 26.2, macOS Tahoe 26.2, and iPadOS 26.2 Available for Testing
Apple has issued the third beta versions of iOS 26.2, iPadOS 26.2, macOS Tahoe 26.2, to those engaging in the beta testing programs for Apple system software. With a new beta build coming every week, it’s fairly likely we will see a final version released in December before yearend.
A handful of tweaks, changes, and new features are being worked on in the current betas. For iPhone, iOS 26.2 beta includes a slider to adjust Liquid Glass on the lock screen (they should probably bring this slider to all OS 26 versions and make it able to adjust Liquid Glass system wide, but what do I know I’m just a bozo user who sees a lot of complaints about the Liquid Glass interface on MacOS Tahoe and iOS 26), the Live Translation AirPods feature arrives for EU users, Reminders gets an alarm feature, AirDrop gets a temporary code feature for allowing non-contact users to exchange files, you can have your screen flash for alerts, and more. It’s unclear what bug fixes will be included in the new OS 26.2 releases, but hopefully hopefully MacOS 26.2 will fix the bug where Reduce Transparency does not work entirely in Tahoe, iCloud no longer works in VMs, and other known issues.
How to Download iOS 26.2 Beta 3 / iPadOS 26.2 Beta 3
For iPhone and iPad, do the following:
- Open the “Settings” app
- Go to “General” and then to “Software Update”
- Choose to download and install iOS 26.2 beta 3 / iPadOS 26.2 beta 3
How to Download MacOS Tahoe 26.2 Beta 3
For Mac:
- From the  Apple menu, go to “System Settings”
- Select “General” and then go to “Software Update”
- Choose to update now for MacOS Tahoe 26.2 beta 3
Apple usually goes through multiple beta builds before issuing a final version, and with a new beta build coming out every week, it’s reasonable to expect the final versions of macOS Tahoe 26.2, iOS 26.2, and iPadOS 26.2 could arrive before the end of the year holiday season.
The latest stable builds of system software are currently iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, iOS 18.7.2, iPadOS 18.7.2, macOS Tahoe 26.1, macOS Sequoia 15.7.2, and macOS Sonoma 14.8.2.
