Skip to main content

Apple releases iOS 10.1 beta 5 for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, & macOS Sierra 10.12.1 beta 5

Apple has just released the fifth iOS 10.1 beta, marking the second developer beta released this week. iOS 10.1 includes the Portrait camera for iPhone 7 Plus that applies a DSLR-like blur effect over photos using the dual lens system. The iOS 10.1 beta 5 is a larger download, weighing in at 1.95 GB. The beta is available to registered developers and public beta testers. Apple has also pushed out the beta 5 for macOS Sierra 10.12.1.

iOS 10.1 beta 5

Today’s iOS 10.1 beta is one of the larger of all the beta releases we have gotten thus far. The release notes for beta 5, once again don’t note any new fixes in this build. This behavior has been consistent for the past few betas of iOS 10.1. iOS 10.1 beta 4’s release notes hadn’t noted any fixes, but with beta 5’s large file size we are expecting to see at least some notable changes. We’ll continue to update at the bottom of the post if we do.

Today’s beta could include the iOS 10.0.3 cellular connectivity fixes we saw earlier this week.

Portrait mode is a feature that was demonstrated at Apple’s keynote earlier this month, but the major new feature wasn’t ready for primetime when the iPhone 7 Plus initially launched. Portrait still isn’t in the release versions of iOS, but developer and public betas released last month include a beta version of the feature which works well already.

Aside from Portrait mode, we noted the changes includes in the first beta last month:

There’s a new toggle setting in Accessibility called Auto-play Message Effects. This is related to Reduce Motion disabling Messages bubble and screen effects but the functionality does not seem to be implemented yet.

According to the developer release notes, iOS 10.1 includes a fix for motion handling. Developers will be able to access barometric pressure data for iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4 and iPad Pro.

For the impressive new Portrait mode in Camera, we went hands on with the new feature using the beta in our initial walkthrough. Zac also wrote about the new feature here and took some example images here. Check out Jeff Benjamin’s video demonstration below:

macOS Sierra 10.12.1 beta 5

Apple has also released out beta 5 of the macOS Sierra 10.12.1 developer beta. We’ll continue to update with any notable changes.

As always, if you find anything new, feel free to let us know in the comments below or at @9to5mac on Twitter.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel