Despite having been off in Spain for the holidays, Apple based in the United States has not ceased its activity and last Tuesday released the RC versions (latest betas for developers) of iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, watchOS 8.3, macOS 12.1 and tvOS 15.2. This predicts an imminent release of the final versions for the general public.
And first of all, we have indeed said watchOS 8.3 and not watchOS 8.2. Surprisingly, the Cupertino company has skipped a version and we will go from versions 8.1 to 8.3, something that strange as it may seem, is not new. And it is that in previous years we have seen Apple launch versions later than those that in theory should come if they followed a strict numerical order.
Is it known what exact day they will be released?
No. There is a lot of speculation and in fact it is more than likely that it could be Tuesday, just 7 days after the aforementioned RC versions. However it has not been officially confirmed, so it could be Monday, Wednesday and even Thursday. By proxy, they might not even be released next week, but that would be a major surprise, since there has never been more than a week between the launch of a final beta and the official version to the public.
Main news you will find
They will not be very revolutionary versions, but they will bring some very relevant news. This is the case of the definitive launch of Apple Music Voice Plan , the new service for Apple’s music platform that was announced at the event in September.
Focusing on what’s new in iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 , the most relevant news are these:
- Arrival of the Digital Legacy with which to choose a contact who would inherit access to data such as photos, notes or reminders, but not to passwords.
- Applications privacy report , showing the extent to which they are accessing elements such as the microphone, camera or location.
- In Apple Music , in addition to the new plan, small new features are integrated such as a search engine within the playlists.
- There are changes to the summary of notifications after exiting a focus mode, showing a more minimalist look.
- The Apple TV app now better separates Apple TV + content from other platforms and rental movies, as well as changing the menu position in the iPad app.
- Reminders now allows you to rename labels and delete several or all at once.
- In the Search application , notifications are added if the user carries an AirTag that is not theirs, thus preventing the accessory from being used for tracking.
In macOS 12.1 there are not too many new features beyond the arrival of SharePlay , the new FaceTime functionality present in other operating systems and that allows screen sharing, as well as simultaneously viewing multimedia content on platforms such as Apple TV +, HBO Max, Twitch or Apple Music.
Regarding watchOS 8.3 and tvOS 15.2 we found few changes beyond bug fixes that have been reported so far.