Public beta 1 arrives for iPadOS 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1, more

Today Apple has released public beta 1 for its next big OS updates. iPadOS 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1, and more can now be installed by a wide array of new users. And if you’re running an M1 device or later, that means you get Apple Intelligence support. Here are the new features arriving in this first beta.

Beta 1 provides sneak peek at AI features coming in October

It’s been a big week for Apple software releases. On Monday, the company shipped the following major updates for all its platforms:

• iOS 18
• iPadOS 18
• macOS Sequoia
• visionOS 2
• watchOS 11
• tvOS 18

And now, if you’re interested in trying out the next iterations of many of those updates, the public beta is the best way to do that.

Apple’s public beta program offers a chance to preview future OS features without the wait. You can join the public beta program at no cost via Apple’s website.

Take note though: these OS updates are a month or more away from their expected late October release date. That means these beta versions are bound to include a variety of bugs and performance issues that could impact your device. Proceed at your own risk.

Apple Intelligence comes to iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1

If you’re running an iPad or Mac with an M1 chip or better, you can access Apple Intelligence via today’s beta 1 release.

Not all AI features are available in this update. For example, Apple’s image-generation tools (including Genmoji) aren’t arriving until around December.

But if you want to try out some of the first Apple Intelligence features, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 will enable you to do so.

Some of the AI features highlights include:

• AI notification summaries
• writing tools that proofread and rewrite text
• the new, smarter Siri
• Clean Up in the Photos app
• Safari webpage summaries
• Memory movie creation
• and more

Outside of these features, there’s not a lot in the current beta 1 release for non-AI platforms like watchOS and tvOS. But we’ll keep you posted on any changes we discover.

Have you installed the first public beta? Let us know of any changes you find via the comments.