Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software update.
To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the iPhone.
watchOS 5.1 includes support for Group FaceTime, with Group FaceTime calls able to be answered in an audio-only capacity on the Apple Watch. Group FaceTime allows you to chat with up to 32 people at one time.
The watchOS 5.1 update also brings a full-screen new "Color" watch face option for the Apple Watch Series 4, with users able to choose between multiple shades. There's also a filled-in circular color option for older Apple Watch models that joins the standard Color clock face.
Should additional new features be found in the second beta of watchOS 5.1, we'll update this post.
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models will feature a number of significant display, thermal, and battery improvements, according to new late-stage rumors.
According to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital," the iPhone 17 Pro models will feature displays with higher brightness, making it more suitable for use in direct sunlight for prolonged periods. The iPhone 16 Pro and...
Tuesday September 2, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Just one week before Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series, an analyst has shared new price estimates for the devices.
Here are J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee's price estimates for the iPhone 17 series in the United States, according to 9to5Mac:
Model
Starting Price
Model
Starting Price
Change
iPhone 16
$799
iPhone 17
...
Thursday September 4, 2025 7:38 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
We're only days away from Apple's "Awe dropping" fall event scheduled to take place on Tuesday, September 9 – and along with the new iPhone 17 series, we're going to get a new version of the Apple Watch Ultra for the first time since 2023.
By the time the Ultra 3 is unveiled, it will have been two years since the previous model arrived. The intervening period has left plenty of room for...
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series on Tuesday, September 9, and last-minute rumors about the devices continue to surface.
The latest info comes from a leaker known as Majin Bu, who has shared alleged images of Apple's Clear Case for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, or at least replicas.
Image Credit: @MajinBuOfficial
The images show three alleged changes compared to Apple's iP...
Thursday August 28, 2025 4:08 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
An iPhone 17 announcement is a dead cert for September 2025 – Apple has already sent out invites for an "Awe dropping" event on Tuesday, September 9 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The timing follows Apple's trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall.
At the event, Apple is expected to unveil its new-generation iPhone 17, an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17...
Thursday September 4, 2025 2:54 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Air will have a $1,099 starting price providing 256GB of base storage and will max out at $1,499 with a 1TB option, according to the latest TrendForce report.
Apple will offer three price/storage tiers for the all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model, which replaces last year's iPhone 16 Plus in the lineup. Here's how TrendForce sees them breaking down:
256GB — $1099...
The new “Infograph” and “Infograph Modular” Watch Series 4 faces which support the having the highest number complications at once — also have the smallest selection of complications that can be displayed on those faces... thereby making them useless for me. Many of the native complications on the Watch cannot be displayed anywhere on those faces.
Even if they’re just icons to launch the apps, “Messages” and “Now Playing” (among other native complications) are indispensable for me on my watch face.
Why does Apple limit which complications I can put on which faces? I am far from alone in this disappointment.
I don't understand why the new infograph watch faces on my Series 4 allow you to have shortcuts to Music, Exercise, Weather, Walkie Talkie, etc but don't let you shortcut to Messages, Radio, Apple TV Remote, HomeKit, etc. It's bizarre. A lot of third party apps don't work with them either, but for some reason work with the older faces.
The specific reason is that those complications on the new watch faces are actually DIFFERENT than the ones available before S4 and watchOS 5. Third party developers have to port their old ones to that new format. Some have, some will do it eventually.
The issue is, when will Apple? watchOS 5.1? watchOS5.2? watchOS 6?
It's very frustrating that they did not do it out of the gate.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.