News: Apple Releases iOS 14.5 Beta 6 to Developers, Includes Battery Health Calibration for iPhone 11 Line

Apple just seeded developers the sixth iOS 14.5 beta today, Wednesday, Mar. 31. The update includes a calibration for battery health measurements for the iPhone 11 line, as well as two new Siri voices.

According to Apple, iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max users can expect iOS 14.5 to calibrate their iPhone's battery health measurements. Prior to 14.5, these inaccurate measurements could lead to unexpected battery drain or reduced peak performance capability in otherwise healthy batteries.

This won't be something that is fixed right after updating, however. Apple says that calibration for both maximum capacity and peak performance capability might take a few weeks over regular charge cycles. You can tell if your iPhone is calibrating by heading to Settings -> Battery -> Battery Health. Here, you might see a message, stating:

Important Battery Message

Your battery health reporting system is recalibrating Maximum Capacity and Peak Performance Capability. This process may take a few weeks. Learn more...

If iOS is also recalibrating your battery health reporting system, you'll see "Unable to recommend service at this time" appear in this message as well.

If the calibration is a success, this message will disappear, and your maximum capacity percentage will update. If not, however, you will see the following:

Important Battery Message

Recalibration of the battery health reporting system was not successful. An Apple Authorized Service Provider can replace the battery free of charge to restore full performance and capacity. More about service options...

This message means that recalibration was not successful, and that your iPhone's battery is likely degraded past the point of normal use.

The new voices join the previous American female and male voices, and use "source talent recordings" running through Apple's Neural Engine. Apple no longer labels the voices by gender, instead opting to label "Voice" with a corresponding number.

Apple released this update just past 10 a.m. PDT, the company's usual release time for developer updates. If you're a public beta tester, you won't see this update hit your iPhone at this time. Instead, you'll need to wait for Apple to release iOS 14.5 public beta 6, which we expect to see at 1 p.m. PDT today, or 10 a.m. PDT tomorrow.

Beta 6 comes eight days after Apple's last 14.5 update, which it released to both developers and public beta testers.

We are somewhat surprised to see Apple releasing another beta. The rumors pointed to the company planning an imminent iOS 14.5 public release, which would require first seeding testers the 14.5 RC.

In iOS beta testing, the release candidate, formally known as the golden master, is the "final" version of a piece of software. Apple sends it to developers and beta testers first, to make sure there are no major issues that have gone overlooked. If there are, Apple will fix them, and seed an "RC 2."

Whenever Apple decides that an RC is free from enough significant issues, that version becomes the one that eventually goes out to the public.

iOS & iPadOS 14.5 Beta 6 Release Notes

Overview

• The iOS & iPadOS 14.5 SDK provides support to develop apps for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices running iOS & iPadOS 14.5 beta 6. The SDK comes bundled with Xcode 12.5 beta 3, available from Beta Software Downloads. For information on the compatibility requirements for Xcode 12.5, see Xcode 12.5 Beta 3 Release Notes.

Battery Health: Resolved Issue

• iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max battery health reporting system will recalibrate maximum battery capacity and peak performance capability to address inaccurate estimates of battery health reporting for some users. For more information, see About recalibration of battery health reporting in iOS 14.5.

How to Download & Install the Latest iOS 14.5 Beta on Your iPhone

You'll need an Apple developer account to update your iPhone. You can get the restore image from your dev portal, then install it with iTunes or Finder. Otherwise, install the configuration profile, then update by going to Settings –> General –> Software Update. Finally, you can simply wait for it to auto-install if you have a dev profile and "Automatic Updates" is enabled.