On December 16, reports surfaced that iOS 8.1.3 had found its way into testing, and that the official update for the public should be coming soon.
Now, as reported by MacRumors based on accounts of Apple retail employees, the second beta for iOS 8.1.3 has been released. This second beta has build 12B466, which is a slight bump from the version that was being tested last week. The second beta release for internal testing with employees seems to suggest that Apple is indeed getting closer to launching the latest version of iOS. More than that, though, the fact that Apple is keeping this particular update out of the hands of a wider developer testing seems to suggest it is indeed much smaller in scope.
The site notes that it continues to see a steady uptick of visits from devices running iOS 8.1.3, and we can confirm we’re seeing similar patterns in our own analytics (below). This again suggests that a public release is imminent, but whether it’ll be this week or next we don’t know.
Firmware 8.1.3 is not believed to include any major new features, but instead bring about various under-the-hood bug fixes. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, given how many unresolved issues we’ve seen in iOS 8 thus far, and the current consensus regarding Apple software.
Considering the rate of speed that Apple is releasing the beta for iOS 8.1.3, it seems reasonable to assume that the official update should be right around the corner, too.
