Beta 4 of iOS 12.1.3 and MacOS 10.14.3 Released for Testing

Apple has released the fourth beta versions of iOS 12.1.3 and macOS Mojave 10.14.3 for users engaged in the beta testing programs.

The fourth beta builds of iOS 12.1.3 and macOS 10.14.3 arrive just a few days after Apple released beta 3 of the same system software versions, which could indicate an acceleration towards final releases of stable system software builds to the general public, or perhaps an urgent issue was discovered in beta 3 that has been addressed in the beta 4 builds.

No major new features or sweeping changes are expected in the upcoming versions of iOS 12.1.3 or MacOS 10.14.3, instead the updates are likely focused on bug fixes, security updates, and minor enhancements.

Mac users enrolled in the beta testing programs can find the MacOS 10.14.3 beta 4 update available now from the Software Update section of System Preferences. The new build number for beta 4 is 18D39a.

iOS users enrolled in beta testing programs can find iOS 12.1.3 beta 4 in the Software Update section of Settings app.

Release notes accompanying the downloads are fairly sparse, so it’s uncertain what exactly is being worked on with iOS 12.1.3 or MacOS 10.14.3, though a few issues exist that could be remedied by the updates. For example, a select group of iPhone users have discovered that iOS 12.1.2 caused cellular data to stop working on their iPhone which can usually be remedied with a series of troubleshooting steps, if not restoring iOS system software. It’s not clear if iOS 12.1.3 aims to correct whatever the issue is that may be related to those cellular data troubles.

Apple usually goes through a variety of beta versions of software before releasing the final stable build to the general public.

The most recent stable builds of MacOS Mojave and iOS are currently MacOS 10.14.2 and iOS 12.1.2, respectively.