With the summer development cycle now over and this years’s new iPhones now launched, it’s time to get the new corresponding OSes out. Confirmed at the “awe dropping” event on September 9th, this article will highlight new builds while followup articles will cover key notes.
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In the spirit of preserving tech history, documentation and discovery, Low End Mac has been testing out macOS 26, iOS 26, and iPadOS 26. If you’re someone who’s been beta-testing the newer OSes, it’s high time to wait for the official public build to drop, and then install on your device.
- See: Release candidates for iOS 26, macOS Tahoe seeded for testing
. - See also: Apple confirms macOS Tahoe 26 launch date: September 15
The last crop of GM (Golden Master) OS releases seem stable enough for usability. Although you may want to hold off a little bit if you want complete OS stability, as updates are expected shortly after the initial releases of macOS Tahoe and iOS 26. Although some are saying the GM macOS release has ironed out many of the visual bugs from previous beta builds.
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September 9th “OS 26” releases
- macOS Tahoe: Release Candidate (Build 25A353)
. - iOS & iPadOS RC1 (Build 23A340)
. - watchOS RC1 (Build 23R351)
. - visionOS RC1 (Build 23M336)
. - tvOS RC1 (Build 23J352)
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macOS Tahoe development timeline
- Up until June 9th WWDC: Internal Testing Only
. - June 9th, 2025: macOS Tahoe Developer Beta 1 – Build 25A5279m
. - June 23rd, 2025: macOS Tahoe Developer Beta 2 – Build 25A5295e
. - July 7th, 2025: macOS Tahoe Developer Beta 3 – Build 25A5306g
. - July 22nd, 2025: macOS Tahoe Developer Beta 4 – Build 25A5316i
. - August 6th, 2025: macOS Tahoe Developer Beta 5 – Build 25A5327h
. - August 11th, 2025: macOS Tahoe Developer Beta 6 – Build 25A5338b
. - August 18th, 2025: macOS Tahoe Developer Beta 7/Public Beta 4 – Build 25A5346a
. - August 25th 2025: macOS Tahoe Developer Beta 8 – Build 25A5349a
. - September 2nd 2025: macOS Tahoe Developer Beta 9 – Build 25A5351b
. - September 9th, 2025: macOS Tahoe RC1 – Build 25A353
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iOS 26 development timeline
- Up until June 9th WWDC: Internal Testing Only
. - June 9th, 2025: Developer Beta 1, Build 23A5260n, (Build 23A5260u iPhone 15/16)
. - June 13th, 2025: Developer Beta 1, Build 23A5260u (no release notes published)
. - June 23rd, 2025: Developer Beta 2 (Build 23A5276f)
. - July 7th, 2025: Developer Beta 3 (Build 23A5287g)
. - July 22nd, 2025: Developer Beta 4 (Build 23A5297i)
. - July 24th. 2025: Developer Beta 4 & Public Beta 1 (Build 23A5297m)
. - August 5th, 2025: Developer Beta 5 (Build 23A5308g)
. - August 11th, 2025: Developer Beta 6 (Build 23A5318c)
. - August 14th, 2025: Developer Beta 6 (Build 23A5318f) + Public Beta 3
. - August 18th, 2025: Developer Beta 7 (Build 23A5326a)
. - August 25th, 2025: Developer Beta 8 (Build 23A5330a)
. - September 2nd, 2025: Developer Beta 9 (Build 23A5336a)
. - September 9th, 2025: macOS Tahoe RC1 – Build 25A353
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Low End Mac’s plans for the new OS articles
Once the OSes are out, the original macOS Tahoe and iOS 26 articles will be modified to resemble articles about already-released OSes, such as macOS Catalina. There will also be an article roundup of all the changes made to both iOS and macOS throughout the development cycle.
