Release Candidates Are Go for Developers and Public Testers!
13 MAY 2022 - We seem to be just days away from public release of the next round of Apple operating system updates. A few pieces from MacRumors say Apple on Thursday seeded release candidates of iOS and iPadOS 15.5, macOS 12.4, watchOS 8.6, and tvOS 15.5 to developers and public testers. Not much news of newness for most of the RCs, though the macOS and watchOS prospects have notes of note.
macOS Gains One Feature, Splits with Another
It seems that the macOS 12.4 RC adds one feature and pulls out another. On the addition, a piece from iMore says the update for Mac catches Apple’s desktop/laptop operating system up to iPhone and iPad where podcasts are concerned. According to Apple’s release notes:
Apple Podcasts includes a new setting to limit episodes stored on your Mac and automatically delete older ones
That’s a feature that’s been available for Apple Podcasts on iPhone and iPad “for a while now,” according to the report.
As for what’s been pulled out, it’s not a thing that’s gone away, but a thing that’s gone out on its own. A piece from 9 to 5 Mac says this round of releases should make the firmware for Apple’s Studio Display available as its own thing, rather than a thing lodged inside macOS.
Since Studio Display was released, users have had issues with it’s built-in webcam. Apple said it would fix those issues with a software update. While it has been working to do that, that work was in lockstep with various macOS update betas. “As of right now,” the piece says:
…Studio Display Firmware 15.5 RC is only available to beta testers. However, Apple has confirmed that once the update becomes available to the public, it will be available as separate software – so you won’t need to install macOS Monterey 12.4 before updating the Studio Display firmware.
As for how the improvements are going, 9 to 5 Mac says:
After these tweaks, Studio Display owners were able to notice some improvements in the image quality, which now has more natural colors and increased sharpness. However, due to the small ultra-wide sensor, even the software fixes were not enough to make the images look super good.
watchOS 8.6 to Activate Heart Features for Mexico
The new feature for watchOS isn’t really a new feature, but an old feature for a new region. A piece from iMore says watchOS 8.6 will activate the device’s ECG app south of the border, down Mexico way. According to notes spotted by the site:
watchOS 8.6 includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes, including:
Support for the ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 or later in Mexico
Support for irregular heart rhythm notifications in Mexico
As the piece points out, the feature only goes as far back as the Series 4 watch because that was the first series with the necessary hardware.
