iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27: The Public Beta Guide

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In July, Apple released the public beta versions of all their new 2026 operating systems.

I was lucky enough to attend WWDC back in June to witness the new features firsthand, and I’ve been testing iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 (and, of course, Siri AI and the new Apple Intelligence features) ever since.

I haven’t set foot into the world of tvOS or watchOS for this beta run; as usual, I’ll wait for the full releases of those operating systems later this year. Equally, I must make it clear that everything I’m about to tell you is, of course, related to beta software. That means it could change by the time it’s released fully, and some features may disappear (or appear) in that time.

The individual updates to each Apple OS this year are relatively minor. It is absolutely a polishing year, in that regard. But it’s the rejuvenation of Siri and the added cohesion across the entire ecosystem which make 2026 one of the most important years thus far for Apple.

A warning (don’t skip this)

Sorry to be the party-pooper, but if you’ve had your heart set on installing the latest bunch of Apple operating systems ahead of their official release later this year, it’s worth pausing now the public betas are available.

Beta software features code that has not yet been commercially released. It might contain errors, and those errors could cause significant problems during day-to-day use. Your iPhone could literally stop working. The Mac app you rely on for your business may behave entirely differently or refuse to start up at all. The user interface might feel inconsistent and glitchy to the point of distraction.

Worse still, even if the current version of the beta feels great, the next one might be awfully broken. Remember, Apple engineers are actively working on this stuff, and it isn’t deemed ready for public consumption. That’s why Apple itself offers plenty of warnings before you install beta software – and why you’re prompted to back up everything before you commit.

This one is on you, basically. If you decide to install, for instance, iOS 27 beta on your main iPhone, you have to accept that it might cause issues with the way you use your phone.

Oh, and while it’s possible to reverse the process and go back to the latest public OS release, that can be problematic, too.

One thing I will say – and this is by no means intended as a guarantee, because it absolutely isn’t – is that the developer betas I’ve been using since WWDC on my iPhone, Mac, and iPad have been impressively stable. A bit glitchy at times, but largely dependable.

Once again, though, the decision is yours to make.

How to install Apple public betas

If you’ve decided you’re up for an adventure and understand the risks, the first thing you’ll need to do is head to beta.apple.com and follow the instructions for signing up for the Apple Beta Software Program.

Once you’ve done that and enrolled your Apple account on the program, you can head to your device, go into Settings > General > Software Update and look for the Beta Updates option. Choose that, and you’ll suddenly get access to the public betas. Choose the latest one, and your device will install it and restart itself, just like a regular OS update.

I should, of course, note that there are some exceptions to the devices that are compatible with these beta versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. You’ll need an iPhone 11 or later, a 2nd-generation 11-inch iPad Pro or later, and, for the first time, the next version of macOS will not be compatible with any Intel Macs.

There are also some restrictions on where Siri AI and some of the new Apple Intelligence features can be used at the moment. If you’re in the UK, the US, or several other countries (Apple hasn’t explicitly stated exactly which at the moment), you’ll get access to all of the new stuff. But if you’re in China or the EU, I’m afraid you won’t for the time being (until Apple hopefully sorts out the issues surrounding its release in those territories).

If you’re looking to try out Siri AI, it’s worth noting that there is also a waiting list you have to join once you’ve installed the beta operating system. The wait period is… anyone’s guess.

Now, let’s run through some of the important changes and my first-hand thoughts on them.

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iOS 27

If you’re among the folk who didn’t like the introduction of Liquid Glass in 2025, Apple has listened to your complaints. In iOS 27, there’s now a slider which lets you adjust the intensity of the glass effect. You can’t turn it off entirely, but you can reduce it to the point where UI elements are barely translucent. And if you want Liquid Glass Pro Max, you can smash the slider all the way to the right. I left mine in the middle (the default). Because it has never bothered me. This update applies to all three OSes, so I won’t mention it again below.

Apple is promising significant performance increases with iOS 27 (and, once again, within iPadOS and macOS, too). This means up to 30% quicker app launches, a 70% faster Photos app, and 80% speedier AirDrop. It’s very hard for me to test this stuff at the moment because it’s beta software and occasionally feels more sluggish than normal, but I’m particularly happy to hear that Apple has been focusing on AirDrop improvements – I rely on it so often (and I think a lot of other people do, too).

There’s some smaller stuff that adds to the ‘new car smell’ of iOS 27. Dynamic wallpapers that shift throughout the day are subtle but make your phone feel alive. The new highlights view in the Weather app is handy for glances at what’s coming. The ability to send drawings in Messages isn’t something I’d use, but I can understand why Apple has implemented it.

Then, we have custom EQ for AirPods. I’m still yet to test this because – and listening to my own advice above – it requires installing the beta version of the AirPods Pro firmware, and I don’t fancy doing that on something I rely on constantly. But it’s there, and while it’s limited (three undefined frequency bands only), it does fill a gap that has been curiously absent from Apple’s audio lineup for too long.

If you’re a parent, you’ll be glad to hear that some significant changes are coming to child accounts. I’m not sure how much of it is testable in the beta release and, to be honest, I’d steer clear given what these features are for, but it’s definitely worth a read of Apple’s rundown on this.

iPadOS 27

Of all the Apple operating systems to receive significant updates over the last few years, iPadOS, surely, sits near the top. We’ve seen changes to core functionality, multiple tweaks to the way multitasking is handled, and a consistent push to a more macOS-like user interface.

It’s perhaps fair, then, that iPadOS 27 feels like one of the smallest updates this year. It gets most of the new stuff covered above in iOS 27, along with some iPad-specific updates of which I’m rather fond.

There’s now the option to turn on a persistent menu bar. You know, like the one in macOS. It feels a bit unfinished in beta form (because it is) – for instance, I don’t like the way it remains when you’re watching full-screen video, but I’m sure Apple will fix that. For a Mac aficionado like me, it does make me feel far more at home working on my iPad.

We’re also getting Visual Intelligence for the first time on the iPad this year, which means you can snap photos of stuff and use Apple Intelligence to find out more about it.

Oh, and external drive speeds are up to five times faster (if you have the M4 11-inch iPad Pro or newer). Which is nice.

If you’re wondering which iPad to pair with the iPadOS 27 beta, we’ve broken down the full lineup. Check out our iPad buying guide for more.

macOS 27 Golden Gate

You read that right earlier – Intel Macs are officially dead going forward if you want to use the latest version of macOS.

The version to kick off the Apple Silicon-only macOS era is 27, or ‘Golden Gate’, as it’s affectionately known. Once again, this is a mild update in terms of raw feature additions, but it does feel fresh.

This is thanks to a bunch of subtle-yet-effective user interface tweaks Apple has made, including more defined app icons, simplified menu bar app icons, edge-to-edge sidebars, coloured sidebar icons, improved contrast, and consistent window corners across the system. It gives macOS 27 the uncanny ability to refresh your Mac, making it feel a little ‘newer’. It’s enough; macOS is already the best operating system on the planet.

Safari has received some pretty cool new stuff, too. It’ll automatically create tab groups based on related topics without you having to lift a finger. You can even set it to keep an eye on specific websites and inform you via push notifications when there’s been an update (handy if you want to keep an eye on product availability, for instance). You can even describe an extension you want and have macOS build it for you, which is bonkers.

Although Safari is my browser of choice, I’m not what you’d call a power user, and I do value tab hygiene, so these updates are unlikely to impact me, but, once again, I can see why they will be useful to a lot of people.

Apple has also completely rebuilt Spotlight and Mail search in Golden Gate. This isn’t the sexiest thing in the world, but it does have a meaningful impact on the day-to-day use of your Mac. Search feels faster and more accurate, and, well, I can’t beat around the bush any longer – it leads me to talk about this year’s big update.

Siri AI: the actual story

Two years ago, Apple promised us a significantly improved and vastly more capable version of Siri, along with the introduction of Apple Intelligence.

We’ve had the latter for a while now (most of it, at least), but the new version of Siri has been curiously absent. Until now, thanks in part to the involvement of Google and its powerful Gemini model training.

All three of the operating systems I’m covering today include Siri AI. As noted earlier, its availability is restricted at launch, and it will remain in beta form once fully released to the public, but if you’re in line to get it, you’re in for an absolute treat.

I can keep this really simple. Siri AI is the Siri we were promised at WWDC 2024. It’s aware of virtually everything on your device, and it can use that knowledge to help you in pretty much any way you require. It’ll dig out information hidden across Mail, Messages, and Notes and can decipher your half-assed, ambiguous questions without asking for clarification or giving up entirely.

Also – and this is rather easy to overlook with Siri AI – it’s a thousand times better at the regular ‘set an egg timer’ type questions than the current version of Siri has ever been.

I managed to grab access to Siri AI the day after WWDC, while in California, and I’ve only been able to trip it up a handful of times. It has responded to every other request perfectly and surfaced stuff I genuinely needed, and which would have taken me forever to find otherwise.

Siri AI is the real story of WWDC 2026 and the Apple OSes that were announced at that event. We’ve finally got what we were promised. It just works, and it doesn’t feel like AI for AI’s sake.

Happy days.

We put Siri AI through its paces in a dedicated hands-on. Read our Siri AI review for the full breakdown.

The new photo AI tools

Alongside Siri AI, there are a bunch of new Apple Intelligence features coming later this year, most of which are centred around the Photos app.

I’ve tried all three, and they are a world away in terms of quality compared to what we currently have.

Cleanup is now just as powerful as similar tools on other platforms. If you need to remove something from a photo on your Apple device, it’ll do it fast and accurately.

Need to extend a photo? The new Extend will let you do that, and, once again, it just works. In fact, it ranks among the best generative fill features I’ve used. Although I’m still not sure how many people actually use this stuff, to be honest.

Then, we have Spatial Reframe, which enables you to literally change the framing of a photo. So, if you’ve snapped a photo of your dog with her head slightly off axis from the camera, and you want to swing her towards the lens, you can – to an extent. Apple Intelligence fills in the gaps and paints in the missing areas of the subject once you’ve swung it around. This is done partly via the spatial technology Apple has been developing for Vision Pro, and it’s mind-bogglingly clever. It just isn’t something I’d ever use, I’m afraid.

The only thing I’d say about these new features is that they do take a while to perform (I tested them on an iPhone 17 Pro Max), and I’m not sure if that’s beta-related or just the processing time required. We’ll see.

Verdict: should you install?

It’s entirely up to you. I really don’t want to be the person to say “ooh, go on – install the iOS 27 public beta on your phone” only for it to completely brick the device you use to communicate with your family.

My honest advice is to only ever install beta software on secondary devices that you don’t rely on. That’s what I do, but I am a Tech YouToober, which means I have access to an entirely unnecessary number of Apple devices.

If you’ve got an old iPhone, iPad, or Mac – please do give them a go. If you haven’t, I’d advise waiting. We’re only a few months away from the full releases of the latest Apple OSes, after all, and they’re worth waiting for. Trust me.