Apple Issues 4th Betas for ’26 OS Releases

Just ahead of the expected public betas, Apple has refreshed its ’26 OS developer betas with fourth milestone releases. Unless there are any major issues, these releases will likely map directly to the public betas.

I’ve already installed iPadOS 26 Beta 4, macOS 26 Beta 4, and tvOS 26 Beta 4 on the relevant devices, and I’m installing iOS 26 Beta 4 on my iPhone and watchOS 26 Beta 4 on my Apple Watch as I write this. So it’s early days with regard to new features and other changes. But based on other reports, there are at least some minor updates:

• Apple keeps fidgeting with the “Liquid Glass” effect it announced at WWDC 2026 in June. Apparently, it’s trending back towards transparent and is less cloudy than in the previous release.
• The controversial Notification Summaries feature that got Apple into trouble earlier during iOS 18.3 testing because of fake headlines is back. I was prompted to enable this on the Mac and iPad, and I assume I will soon be prompted similarly on the iPhone too.

The public betas of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS are expected as soon as tomorrow if you’re waiting for that.