iOS 11 beta 1 is now available to download

Image: Moe Slah

Apple’s new smart speaker that will take on the Amazon Echo and Google Home looks pretty cool. The company’s new MacBook Pro models pack tons of power, and the new iPad Pro features a bold new design. If we can all be honest with ourselves for a moment though, we don’t really care about any of that right now. At this very moment, all we care about are all of the awesome new features Apple showed off in iOS 11, because we don’t have to wait another second to get our hands on them. That’s right, Apple fans, iOS 11 beta 1 has been released and you can download it right now.

Apple announced during its big WWDC 2017 keynote that its first developer beta of iOS 11 would be released today. Now, it’s important to note that this is indeed a developer beta. iOS 11 beta 1 is intended for use by iOS developers only. It is a very early version of the company’s next-generation mobile software, and there are going to be tons of bugs. If you’re not a developer, the version iOS 11 public beta will be released next month once Apple addresses some of the bigger bugs in the developer builds.

With all that having been said, we all know that avid Apple fans will throw caution to the wind and install iOS 11 beta 1 immediately. After all, you don’t even need an Apple developer account anymore — all you need is to install the iOS beta configuration profile on your iPhone or iPad, and you’re good to go.

The good news is that early versions of Apple’s iOS 10 beta last year were surprisingly stable. Yes, there were still plenty of bugs in beta 1 and the next few releases, but there wasn’t really anything that rendered the software unusable. Still, if you plan to install iOS 11 beta 1 on your iPhone or iPad, there are a few things you should know:

You may lose some data. Be sure to back up to iCloud or iTunes before you install iOS 11 beta 1
There will be bugs. Lots and lots of bugs.
Apps will crash… often. No third-party app developer on the planet has updated their apps yet for iOS 11 (how could they?) and there will absolutely be compatibility issues. You favorite apps may be completely unusable, in fact. Keep that in mind before you install iOS 11

With that out of the way, iOS 11 beta 1 has been released! If you have an Apple developer account, simply visit this link on your iPhone or iPad and you’ll be able to install Apple’s new beta configuration profile. Then iOS 11 beta 1 will show up under Settings > General > Software Update as an over the air (OTA) download. Alternatively, you can visit the same link on your computer and download iOS 11 beta 1 to install through iTunes.

While you wait for it to install, learn about all of the best new features in iOS 11 right here in this post.

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Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 15 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.