News: Apple Releases iOS 14.5 Public Beta 6, Features New Siri Voices & Battery Health Calibration for iPhone 11 Line

Apple seeded software testers iOS 14.5 public beta 6 today, Wednesday, March 31. The update includes a new battery calibration for iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, as well as two new Siri voices.

If you have any three iPhones from the "11" line, iOS 14.5 will calibrate your battery. Inaccurate battery measurements in iOS 14.4.2 and earlier could lead to unexpected battery drain or reduced peak performance capability in otherwise healthy batteries.

This won't be something that is fixed immediately, however. Apple states that calibration for both maximum capacity and peak performance capability might take as long as 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 at 10 a.m. PDT, the company's usual release time for public updates. It comes eight days after Apple's last 14.5 update, which it released to both developers and public beta testers.

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

To update your iPhone to iOS 14.5 public beta 6, sign up through Apple's beta site, download and install the configuration profile, then update over the air. If you already have the profile, go to Settings –> General –> Software Update to begin the installation of the latest beta build, or you can wait until it installs automatically if "Automatic Updates" is enabled.