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Apple just released the first developer beta of the next big iPhone update, iOS 18.4, which the company confirmed will go on genereal release in April. It came out on Friday, Feb. 21. Just one day later, Apple has unsigned it for some iPhones, and done the same with iPadOS 18.4 developer beta for selected iPads. It’s also unsigned the new watchOS 11.4 developer beta for some Apple Watches. Read on to see if your device is affected.
Apple iPhone 16.
A post on X from Aaron Perris, an analyst at MacRumors, revealed the change. “iOS 18.4 beta 1 is no longer being signed for iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini. Wonder what went wrong…,” it reads.
A later post clarified things further: “iOS 18.4 beta 1 is now unsigned for the following devices: iPhone 12 Pro iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 12 Mini iPad 8 (Cellular) iPad Air 4th Gen (Wi-Fi and Cellular) iPad Air 11-inch (M2) (Cellular) iPad Air 13-inch (M2) (Cellular),” they said.
In other words, if you have an iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, iPhone XR, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and any pone from the iPhone 13, iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 series, or the second- or third-generation iPhone SE, you’ll still be able to download the developer beta.
Interestingly, Perris also says that the “iPhone 16e does NOT support iOS 18.4 beta 1.”
The Apple Watch models affected by the unsigning of watchOS 11.4 beta 1 are all Apple Watch Series 6, both the versions with GPS and the ones with GPS and cellular connectivity, in 40mm and 44mm sizes.
As Michael Burkhardt at 9to5Mac points out, most of the devices affected were released in 2020.
Apple will be working at this second on reissuing the updates for these devices as soon as it can and, presumably, later beta releases will also be compatible with iPhone 16e. As that doesn’t go on sale until Friday, Feb. 28, it may not be surprising that support hasn’t been offered yet and will arrive with the next version.
