Apple Seeds New iOS 12.1.3 Beta to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]

by

Apple today seeded a new beta of an upcoming iOS 12.1.3 update to developers, just a few days releasing iOS 12.1.2, an update that focused on bug fixes for the eSIM feature and changed certain iPhone features in China after a Chinese court found that some iPhones infringe on Qualcomm patents.

Registered developers can download the new iOS 12.1.3 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.

ios12banner
The iOS 12.1.3 beta actually includes the same content that was destined for the iOS 12.1.2 beta, and it appears to be labeled as a second beta rather than a first beta. When Apple released iOS 12.1.2, it featured a build number of 16C101, while the first iOS 12.1.2 beta released for developers had a later 16D build number.

Apple appears to have tweaked iOS 12.1.2 to include some emergency bug fixes and the aforementioned software changes in China, rushing the update out and pushing content originally planned for iOS 12.1.2 to iOS 12.1.3 instead.

Apple was forced to push iOS 12.1.2 out earlier than expected after a Chinese court decided on December 10 that Apple's iPhone 6s through iPhone X infringed on two Qualcomm patents related to resizing and reformatting photos for wallpaper and the app switcher.

The court enacted a preliminary sales ban on the iPhone, leading Apple to make tweaks to the iOS software in China. Apple changed the way apps close when you swipe up on an open app from the app switcher, and it tweaked the share sheet interaction for setting contact and wallpaper images.

Apple has not stopped selling its iPhones in China, despite protests from Qualcomm, and it has said that it is in compliance with the court's preliminary order.

iOS 12.1.3 will mark the fourth update to iOS 12. We don't yet know what features are included, and no major changes were found in the original iOS 12.1.2 beta that was the precursor to iOS 12.1.3. As a 12.x.x update, iOS 12.1.3 likely focuses on minor changes, bug fixes, and operating system tweaks.

If we find anything new in the iOS 12.1.3 beta, we'll update this post.

Update: Apple has made the new beta of iOS 12.1.3 available to public beta testers.

Related Forum: iOS 12

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
Read Full Article • 109 comments
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
Read Full Article • 205 comments
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
Read Full Article • 541 comments
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Read Full Article • 47 comments
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
Read Full Article • 97 comments
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
Read Full Article • 350 comments
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Read Full Article • 92 comments
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
Read Full Article • 146 comments
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
Read Full Article • 116 comments

Top Rated Comments

C DM Avatar
C DM
89 months ago
iOS 13 must be good cos iOS 12 is such a boring release
At the same time "boring" usually means more stable and better overall.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
cmaier
89 months ago
why they call it “Beta 2”
It’s the second beta of what was 12.1.2 before 12.1.2 got renumbered to 12.1.3 due to the emergency 12.1.2 release yesterday
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
smulji Avatar
smulji
89 months ago
With iOS 12 being a "Snow Leopard"-ish iOS release, with some tentpole features but focused mostly on improving performance and stability, I wonder if we will get any major new features on 12.2 or 12.3 releases.
I doubt it. All the more reason to expect iOS 13 to be a very big release
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dan9700 Avatar
dan9700
89 months ago
I doubt it. All the more reason to expect iOS 13 to be a very big release
iOS 13 must be good cos iOS 12 is such a boring release
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
nutmac
89 months ago
With iOS 12 being a "Snow Leopard"-ish iOS release, with some tentpole features but focused mostly on improving performance and stability, I wonder if we will get any major new features on 12.2 or 12.3 releases.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
I7guy
89 months ago
Don't bet your boots! Consider that the iPhone 6, and ESPECIALLY the 6 Plus are constrained more by RAM than CPU performance, and both have the SAME amount of RAM as the 5s (1GB)—and that the ONLY difference between the 5s/6 and the 5 lineage that came before was 64-bit and 32-bit CPU—when goes the 5s the 6 and 6 Plus will undoubtedly follow. (Definitely the 6 Plus; the extra pixels on the 6 Plus with 1GB of RAM was a performance design flaw from Day 1. The 5s is more performant on iOS 12 than a 6 Plus at most tasks.) The 6s and later--including the SE--all have 2GB of RAM, which isn't just "double", because of OS baseline, it comes out to be more like 3x more available memory.
5 years of support unless Apple makes some exceptions. Next year the 5s turns 6, which means unless Apple changes it's policies, the 5s has seen its last update.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments