Just days before a major software rollout, Apple decided its smartwatch update needed a little more time in the oven. The company just pushed out a new version of the watchOS 27.2 software to developers and public beta testers. This unexpected release suggests the development team found a few lingering issues that required fixing before the update goes out to the general public next week.
Second release candidate patches bugs before the public rollout
The tech giant initially seeded the first release candidate to testers earlier this week. A release candidate usually represents the final version of the software that ships to regular users. However, this second build replaces the previous version and changes the build number to 24S118.
While we do not know the specific changes in this second build, companies typically drop a second release candidate to squash last minute bugs. The team wants the core watchOS software to run smoothly on your wrist, so catching these glitches early prevents bigger problems later.
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This new software will arrive alongside a massive wave of updates across the entire ecosystem. Users can look forward to downloading iOS 27.2, tvOS 27.2, and iPadOS 27.2 very soon. If you use an Apple Watch, you should expect this final version to hit your device sometime early next week. Keep an eye on your settings app so you can install the patch as soon as it drops.
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