Apple Releases iOS 12.1.3 Beta 4 to Developers and Public Testers

Apple on Thursday rolled out the fourth beta versions of iOS 12.1.3 and macOS 10.14.3 to both public beta testers and developers.

Specifically, the fourth beta version of iOS 12.1.3 should now be available to both public beta testers and developers.

The fourth beta of macOS 10.14.3, on the other hand, is only currently available to developers. iOS 12.1.3 beta 4 was released just a few days after beta 3, suggesting that the final public release of that software is just over the horizon.

At this point, it isn’t clear what sort of additions, features or changes are contained in the new beta versions. They appear to be fairly incremental in nature.

Because of that, users should primarily expect bug fixes, security patches and other assorted under-the-hood changes, rather than any major outward-facing features.

Interestingly, iOS 12.1.3 beta 4 marks the first instance that Apple has made both the developer and public beta versions available at the same time.

It’s also worth noting that the fourth iOS 12.1.3 beta is actually only the third iOS 12.1.3 release. That’s because the first beta of the software was actually iOS 12.1.2 — which was later rushed out to address patent violation concerns in China. As a result, the first iOS 12.1.3 beta was labeled a second beta.

That’s rather confusing on its own, without even considering the multiple iOS 12.1.2 builds that were released.

In any case, the betas should now be available from the Apple developer center or as an over-the-air update on devices with the proper configuration profile. The iOS 12.1.3 public beta should also be available as an over-the-air update for public testers.

As always, we don’t recommend running Apple beta software on your daily driver or any other “mission critical” devices. At the very least, you should perform a full backup of your device before proceeding.