Apple iOS 16, macOS Ventura And iPadOS 16: When You Can Download

WWDC has wrapped up and, as usual, we're left waiting for all of the promised goodies to go from an ethereal product presentation to a tangible thing we can interact with. From iOS 16 to macOS Ventura, there are a lot of new features and updates on the horizon — but for now, the horizon is where they'll be staying.

Upgrading to iOS 16 will add a slew of options and requested updates, including the ability to edit sent text messages and an almost unreasonable amount of lock screen customization tools. iPadOS 16, meanwhile, blurs the line between tablet and computer even more with a more desktop-like experience, greatly improved multitasking, and an emphasis on collaboration features.

Lots of changes are coming with watchOS 9 as well, including more fitness tracking options, a larger number of running metrics that can be monitored, improved heart monitoring and history functions that can be saved as a PDF and sent to a doctor, and even new Health app functions to keep track of and monitor medications. And finally, there's macOS Ventura, which adds a bevy of new camera and video features, a passwordless Safari web browser, and the pinnacle of Mac gaming in hardware using the new M2 silicon chip.

As for how you can get ahold of the latest versions of all these fancy new operating systems, well, Apple is being coy with the specifics. As with previous version upgrades, everything will be free to download as an automatic (or manual) device update, though older hardware may not be compatible with the latest software when it arrives.

In all instances, there will be a public beta that you can sign up for starting in July 2022, but as is the nature of beta releases you could end up encountering several bugs and other functionality issues. If you don't mind waiting a bit longer and would prefer to avoid any undue technological stress, you can wait for the official release dates instead.

But that's the rub, as so far Apple has only noted that iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, and macOS Ventura will be available sometime in the fall of 2022 — no day, date, or even general month have been revealed yet. Granted, the company has historically released the newest OS versions in September, so it's probably safe to assume everything here will follow the same pattern, but until Apple gets specific, that's just educated guessing for the time being.