Honest advice on why you might want to wait for the iOS 18 public beta

As we inch closer to the release of iOS 18 and new iPhone models this fall, Apple has been refining the software and releasing early builds to developers and anyone who signs up for the Apple Beta Program. It’s a great way to get a taste of what’s new, like a revamped Maps app and expanded messaging features.

But it can also be an invitation for trouble if something goes wrong on your iPhone. The beta is not inherently dangerous, and our experiences have been largely positive. Still, it’s important to approach any prerelease software with an open mind and realistic expectations.

For more information on what iOS 18 brings to iPhone, be sure to check out everything Apple announced at WWDC and how Apple Intelligence will impact the way we use Apple devices. And if you really want the latest iPhone OS, here’s how to install the iOS 18 public beta.

A positive word about installing the iOS 18 public beta

The public beta is more stable than the developer betas that Apple has been steadily releasing since early June, which are intended for… developers.

But “more stable” doesn’t equal “solid as a rock.” Apple is still adding and changing features in the iOS 18 betas, which won’t be expected to ship until this fall.

If you decide to install the iOS 18 public beta, I recommend doing so on a separate iPhone that isn’t your primary personal phone. iOS 18 works with models as old as the iPhone SE (second generation) and iPhone XR, so reach into the back of your tech drawer and fire up that forgotten iPhone.

Also, make sure you have backups of your data. And if things go wrong, learn how to roll back to iOS 17.

Bugs are part of iOS 18 public beta

Now let’s discuss why upgrading to the iOS public beta might be a bad idea.

Software bugs at this early stage are to be expected — and that’s kind of the point. Now is the time for bugs to come to light, so developers can find them and Apple can fix them before the final release. By opening up the public beta to more testers, odd interactions with a much wider group of iPhones and third-party apps will be caught.

Bugs can range across the spectrum. You might encounter issues connecting to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, or you might experience third-party apps that crash intermittently. Features that work perfectly in iOS 17 might not perform up to par in iOS 18, even if they aren’t necessarily tied to new iOS 18 features. And runaway background processes can cause the system to run hotter than normal, not only decreasing the phone’s battery life on a charge but potentially putting a strain on the battery life itself. To be fair, I’ve never encountered any show-stopping, brick-your-phone bugs in a beta — usually they’re a collection of annoyances that grow on you after a while. But these are all completely normal in developer and public betas.

But if you don’t want to deal with bugs and other issues that can make using your phone more difficult, you probably don’t want the iOS 18 public beta on your primary iPhone.

Your battery life may deteriorate

Did you recently purchase a recommended portable charger for your iPhone? Expect to use it more often if you’re running beta software. Energy efficiency is usually the last thing Apple developers optimize, as the priority at this point is to make sure features work and bugs are stamped out.

An iOS update also triggers a lot of internal indexing, which takes up a lot of power for a few hours or days after installation. For example, the Photos app updates its database of recognized people, scans images for new recognizable objects or scenes for search purposes, and looks for duplicates.

Performance can take a hit

Due in part to the reindexing of gigabytes of data on your phone, the iOS 18 public beta almost certainly won’t deliver the performance you’d expect. Processor-intensive apps and games also need to be tuned to work with the new iOS, so stuttering and glitches are expected.

Game Mode is a new feature for iOS (first appearing in macOS Sonoma) that redirects resources to improve frame rate and Bluetooth latency, potentially allowing even the most demanding games to perform better than they did under iOS 17. Game Mode is still in beta, however, and may have its own temporary quirks.

Not all new iOS 18 features are available yet

We already know that the razzle-dazzle Apple Intelligence features won’t be available until after iOS 18 launches , and some, like the upgraded Siri integrations, aren’t coming until next year, according to a report . Even the new full-screen Siri effect and the ability to type to Siri are currently only available to developers using a separate iOS 18.1 beta.

Such is the development lifecycle: Some features get put on the back burner so others can be finished. Last year, Apple announced two exciting media features, Collaborative Playlists in the Music app and AirPlay in Hotels, that didn’t roll out until January and April 2024, respectively.

I know it’s hard to be patient when future features are just a download away, but I also don’t want you to get burned (like I have in the past).

For more on iOS 18, read why it might be more exciting than the upcoming iPhone 16 and how the new Passwords app will work across all your devices.