The first beta of iOS 16.4 is now available to developers and although it does not contain any great news, it does indirectly start a new test cycle until the final publication of the version. In addition, we have our sights set on the month of June where WWDC 2024 will take place and where we will see all the news related to iOS and iPadOS 17. Until then, Apple has to continue with its roadmap and it seems that they are already working on iOS 16.5, and would probably be the last version before the presentation of iOS 17.
iOS 16.5 will be the prelude to the presentation of iOS 17
As we discussed in this article, there are many features that Apple promised would come in iOS 16 and have not yet arrived. So most likely, iOS 16.5 will include at least part of those features that were planned for iOS 16. Among those features are the Apple Card savings account, the Apple Music app or modifications to integrate classical music, the contact key verification in iMessage or Apple Pay Later. We have the first beta of iOS 16.4 between us and Not having any major news, iOS 16.5 seems to be the last trump card for Apple before the release of iOS 17.
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In fact, the statistics of some websites already confirm the presence of traffic from devices running iOS 16.5. This means that Apple is already working on this update which will be the prelude to the presentation of iOS 17 at WWDC 2024. No great news is expected in iOS 16.5 either, although it is likely that some of the functions discussed above will appear, since otherwise iOS 17 would remain as an extension of iOS 16, without something different that stands out from other updates. We can only wait and see how events unfold in the coming weeks.