Last week’s 8th developer beta wasn’t the last before the upcoming iPhone release, as we now have a 9th Developer Beta for iOS 26. It may or may not be surprising, and there was always the possibility of seeing an RC build versus DB9. All in all, iOS 26 is close now, but there are still more bugs.
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• See: iOS & iPadOS 26 Beta 9 Release Notes – Apple
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• See also: iOS & iPadOS 26 Beta 9 Release Notes.webarchive.zip (1.5 MB, download)
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• 1.06 GB download size for iPhone 16 Pro Max (Keep in mind this will overwrite existing system files as opposed to just eating more storage). 3.27 GB for the iPhone 14 Pro if you’re on DB8 now.
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iOS 26 development timeline

• Up until June 9th WWDC: Internal Testing Only
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• June 9th, 2025: Developer Beta 1, Build 23A5260n, (Build 23A5260u iPhone 15/16)
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• June 13th, 2025: Developer Beta 1, Build 23A5260u (no release notes published)
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• June 23rd, 2025: Developer Beta 2 (Build 23A5276f)
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• July 7th, 2025: Developer Beta 3 (Build 23A5287g)
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• July 22nd, 2025: Developer Beta 4 (Build 23A5297i)
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• July 24th. 2025: Developer Beta 4 & Public Beta 1 (Build 23A5297m)
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• August 5th, 2025: Developer Beta 5 (Build 23A5308g)
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• August 11th, 2025: Developer Beta 6 (Build 23A5318c)
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• August 14th, 2025: Developer Beta 6 (Build 23A5318f) + Public Beta 3
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• August 18th, 2025: Developer Beta 7 (Build 23A5326a)
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• August 25th, 2025: Developer Beta 8 (Build 23A5330a)
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• September 2nd, 2025: Developer Beta 9 (Build 23A5336a)

• See more: How to read and interpret Apple OS Build Numbers
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Other “beta 9” OS releases concurrently:

• MacOS Tahoe (Build 25A5351b)
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• watchOS 26 (Build 23R5350b)
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• visionOS 26 (Build 23M5335b)
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• tvOS 26 (Build 23J5351a)
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• HomePod Software (Build 23J5351a)

Other OS updates:

• macOS Sequoia 15.7 Release Candidate 5
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• macOS Sonoma 14.8 Release Candidate 5
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Tracking Geekbench 6 Performance

Disclaimer: While artificial benchmarks only tell part of the story when it comes to the performance of any device, they still offer some form of insight. I’ve benched this iPhone 14 Pro on and off throughout the years to get a relative idea of how it performs over time.

• See Links for: CPU / GPU (For the 8th Developer Beta)

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What’s new in Beta 9?

This is more or less a build for refinement. Older devices may or may not see the performance benefit, although there does appear to be a slight bump back up in the GPU performance. I waited to perform this test, as DB9 took a little longer than previous builds to finish processing (which affects scores). There was alot more stutteriness at first, but it died down. Generally, it should feel smooth.

• Developer app updated with “The new design is almost here”, and more – for iPhone launch.

Fixed:

• Resolved: 52 Categories (according to Developer Beta notes)
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• Contact images may have appeared off-center in the phone app in DB8.
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• Volume slider may not appear when changing volume

Not fixed:

• Bugs with clear icons on the Home Screen. Widgets may disappear. Icons may draw-in as you scroll across your Home Screen.
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• When using clear icons and then opening messages, you may sometimes get graphical artifacts.
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• Missing Liquid Glass animation from the Wifi toggle in Settings.
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• There is a new Safari touch glitch – sometimes the screen just won’t respond when you try to interact with the web page, so it has to be refreshed. Others say this is unusual for a later beta.
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• According to a Macrumors forum member: “In Books, imported EPUBs keep getting offloaded daily in automatic mode — even when they’re actively being read and not finished. Also in manual mode.”
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• Another member said: “In Settings->Family->Screen Time->App Limits -> I see duplicate categories like “All Apps & Categories”. Even if i delete them it re-appears”

(Above: Source – iOS 26 Beta 9 is Out! – What’s New? – Zollotech)