Apple Rolls Out New watchOS 3 Beta Ahead Of Official Fall Release, Apple Watch 2

Earlier today, Apple released the sixth beta of the upcoming watchOS 3 alongside the new betas of iOS 10 and macOS Sierra. All three betas were released just a week after the previous builds were launched. Considering that this is already the sixth beta for the Apple Watch’s OS, does this mean the Apple Watch 2 is launching with watchOS 3 soon?

The answer is very obvious at this point, since Apple is already expected to launch its new line of smartwatches this September along with its highly anticipated iPhone 7 smartphones. The release notes for the watchOS 3 beta 6 indicate that the new build comes with fixes for the bugs that were identified in the previous releases. MBedded even pointed out that aside from the fixes, nothing else distinguishes beta 6 from watchOS 3 beta 5.

Per previous builds of the watchOS beta software, it was already revealed that the OS upgrade for the Apple smartwatch is going to be seven times faster than the watchOS 2. Furthermore, the watchOS 3 has already been revealed to come with a new Dock UI, redesigned Control Center, enhanced Messages app and a Breathe app for relieving stress.

The new watchOS will also come with Auto Unlock, a feature that works hand-in-hand with the macOS Sierra. What this does is allow Apple Watch users to remotely unlock their Mac devices running on macOS Sierra without the need of keying in the password on the login screen. Finally, another feature that would come in handy to users is Emergency SOS, which gives them the ability to contact emergency services in their local area through the Apple Watch, 9To5Mac has learned.

Only registered developers and public beta testers can download the watchOS 3 beta 6 via the Watch app on their paired iPhone device. The build could be seen on the Software Update found on the General menu of the Watch app.

The release of the watchOS 3 beta 6 comes amid reports disclosing the depleting stocks of the current Apple Watch lines in preparation for the release of the Apple Watch 2 this fall. Since the Apple Watch 2 devices will mostly come in the same builds as the previous generation variants, the new lineup will mostly rely on the new operating system for inviting software features to grab the attention of the general consumers.