Apple's iOS 17 developer beta is now free to install

Apple announced iOS 17 at WWDC on Monday and it was available for those developers who signed up for the paid developer membership program. Now, however, Apple has made the developer betas free to all developer accounts.

This means those who aren’t paying $99 or Rs 8,700 annual fee can also download the latest iOS 17 developer beta for free for testing. However, free accounts will miss out on select features such as full access to a set of development tools, code-level support, and others.

If you are interested to know more details, check the comparison chart between free and paid developer accounts here.

But for the most part, anyone willing to test out the new OS can head to Apple’s developer page, sign up, and install the iOS 17 developer beta for free.

It’s worth noting that since it’s a developer beta version, it’s meant to have some bugs. If you have never used developer beta before, this could be a messy experience. Some banking apps may not work and there could be several app crashes.

Having said that, it’s recommended to install the developer preview on a secondary iPhone. That’s how you can test the new iOS and not worry about possible bugs.

Speaking of secondary iPhone, Apple has shared a list of all the compatible devices with iOS 17. Following are the phones that are eligible to run on iOS 17.

iOS 17 eligibility list

iPhone 14

iPhone 14 Plus

iPhone 14 Pro

iPhone 14 Pro Max

iPhone 13

iPhone 13 mini

iPhone 13 Pro

iPhone 13 Pro Max

iPhone 12

iPhone 12 mini

iPhone 12 Pro

iPhone 12 Pro Max

iPhone 11

iPhone 11 Pro

iPhone 11 Pro Max

iPhone XS

iPhone XS Max

iPhone XR

iPhone SE (2nd generation or later)

As you can see, the latest iOS 17 is compatible with more than 19 iPhones. This includes the latest iPhone 14 lineup and even the older iPhone XS and iPhone XR.

iOS 17 rollout schedule

After the developer preview, Apple will release the iOS 17 public beta in July. The public beta will again be free to download and may have fewer bugs. Following this, a stable version will be rolled out sometime in September or October. That’s around the time of the launch of the new iPhones for the year, the iPhone 15 lineup.

Key iOS 17 features

Although iOS 17 brings cosmetic updates, it still has some notable design changes. The most significant update it brings is to FaceTime and regular calls. Apple has added customizable posters for FaceTime and regular calls.

Furthermore, the latest OS brings features like Live Voicemail, NameDrop, Check In, and some other security features. Standby is another feature that comes with iOS 17. It’s basically the Bedside mode (similar to Apple Watch) for iPhones.