iOS 18.3 Public Beta 1: Just a few small changes on the iPhone (so far)

Apple released the first public beta of iOS 18.3 in December to developers and public beta testers. The release came about a week after the company released iOS 18.2. Although this update brought more Apple Intelligence features, like Genmoji, to some iPhones, the latest beta introduces some improvements for developers and beta testers.

Learn more: Expert’s Guide to iOS 18

Since this is a beta version, I recommend only downloading it on a device other than your primary device. As this is not the final version of iOS 18.3, the update may be buggy and battery life may be short, so these issues are best kept on a secondary device.

Note that the beta is not the final version of iOS 18.3, so there might be more features landing on your iPhone when iOS 18.3 is released. It is not yet clear when Apple will release iOS 18.3 to the public.

Here’s what could soon be coming to your iPhone with iOS 18.3. And just a reminder that only developers and beta testers with an iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max, or the iPhone 16 line can access Apple Intelligence features at this time. If you have another iPhone, you will not have access to these features.

What’s new in the beta?

There isn’t much in the way of new features from what I can see. I downloaded the developer and public betas after they were released and I don’t see any major changes.

There are some minor cosmetic changes in the beta, like the Camera Control option in Settings now has a dark mode icon. But most of the changes made so far are likely internal improvements and refinements.

Although there aren’t many changes in the update, this is just the first public beta of iOS 18.3. There will likely be more beta versions before the operating system is released to the public, giving Apple plenty of time to add new features and improve others. As of now, it is unclear when Apple will release iOS 18.3 to the general public.

To learn more about iOS, here’s what you need to know about iOS 18.2 and iOS 18.1. You can also check out our iOS 18 cheat sheet.