iOS 27 Release Date: Latest Schedule Confirms iPhone’s July Public Beta
Apple's iOS 27, the next-generation iPhone software, is poised for its first public beta release, likely around July 13 or 14. Announced at WWDC in June, developer betas have progressed steadily, with the third released on July 6. While typically following the third dev beta by a week, 2025 saw a slight delay. Despite being beta software, it's been praised for its stability by sources like Mark Gurman, though users are still cautioned against installing it on critical devices. Notable features include a new Siri AI app, enhanced child safety via Screen Time, AI photo editing, organized Safari tabs, and an upgraded Image Playground.
July 12 update: this post, first published on July 11, was updated with more information, including a new report from Bloomberg.
Apple announced the next-generation of iPhone software, iOS 27, at its Wordwide Developers Conference in June. It’s still in developer beta, but if everything goes according to plan, the first public beta, when many more people will try it out, should land any day now. Here’s what’s coming and when. And there’s now a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman to add to the conviction that the public beta is almost here.
The story so far is that the first developer beta of iOS 27 which, like other developer betas is available to all, for free (details here), was released on Monday, June 8. That was the same day as the WWDC keynote.
The second beta landed on Monday, June 22, and the third on Monday, July 6. Talk about regular as clockwork. Every two weeks, on the dot. Here’s where it gets interesting.
In 2022, 2023 and 2024, Apple released the first public beta exactly a week after dev beta 3. Actually, in 2022, the public beta was just five days after the developer beta.
However, something different happened last year: it was after the fourth developer beta (released on July 22, 2025) that the first public beta appeared, on July 24. It looked like Apple was taking its time with the all-new Liquid Glass design change.
All of which says that unless this year is a repeat of the 2025 schedule, there’s a strong chance that the iOS 27 first public beta will land on Monday, July 13 or Tuesday, July 14.
I think that’s the timetable Apple is following, because numerous sources have praised the software, including Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who reported he’d been using the new Apple software. Since the first versions were released at WWDC, and in terms of bugs, they’ve been pretty solid,” he said.
He also said that he has run all three beta versions of the next operating system, that is for iPhone, iPad and Mac. He again praised the solidity of the developer beta releases. “As of now, I’m not seeing any noticeable quirks and these updates — particularly iOS, iPadOS and macOS — feel quite a bit snappier and more reliable than their predecessors,” he said.
On the other hand, he also described them as “Snow Leopard-like updates, meaning they’re more about making software run more smoothly and reliably. There’s not much new here other than the Siri and other artificial intelligence features,” he went on.
He said that those into these AI updates, such as the new Siri AI, should love the new operating systems, but also pointed out that they’re not going to be available in the European Union just yet. I think there’s a lot coming, as you can read below, but Gurman felt that beyond AI changes, “there’s not a ton to look forward to.”
Solid or not, this is still beta software. I’d avoid installing it on a critical device such as one you use every day. There will be some bugs and if they affect the particular app you need right now, it will be inconvenient.
There are new child safety features with Screen Time allowing parents to see the apps and websites children are using, with customizable schedules and granular controls.
Apple has added AI photo editing tools which can extend images, for instance, organized tabs in Safari, upgraded Image Playground, more accessible Shortcuts and much more.