Should you jump on the iOS 9, OS X El Capitan express?

by Bryan M. Wolfe

July 22, 2015

It’s been six weeks since Apple introduced iOS 9, watchOS 2, and OS X 10.11 El Capitan at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The company has released four developers betas for each since then, with iOS 9 beta 4, watchOS 2 beta 4, and OS X El Capitan Developer beta 4 arriving earlier in the week. Is the time finally right to test these versions out for yourself?

A word about Apple betas

Last summer, Apple introduced a public beta program for OS X. This year, the program has been expanded to include iOS. The first public betas for iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 arrived earlier this month. We expect Apple to offer refreshed public betas soon.

Should you update?

The fourth iOS 9 beta of the year is stable. Like iOS 8 beta 3, we recommend installing this beta on your everyday devices, as long as you don’t mind the occasional bug. Ready to jump onboard, but still have some concerns? Wait for the next public beta version.

El Capitan

OS X v10.11 Developer Beta 4 is also stable. And for the first time, we are recommending upgrading to it on your everyday devices. If you’re still uneasy, but still want to make the jump, wait for the next public beta version.

Finally, we have watchOS 2 beta 4, which is the best prerelease software for the wearable device to date in terms of features and stability. And yet, because this beta (like all of the others) can only be uninstalled at an Apple retail store, we continue to suggest not installing it yet. In fact, our recommendation is to hold off upgrading until the first public version of watchOS 2 is released this fall.

Getting closer

We now believe that iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan have moved far enough in the design process for non-developers to use both updates. Therefore, this is our final “Should you update?” post for this cycle.

As a reminder, public versions of all three operating systems will be available this fall.