Apple releases for August 2021

We’re in the doldrums between WWDC’s big announcements and software betas and September’s annual announcements for the iPhone and Apple Watch. August is not often a big month for Apple releases, and this year is no exception.

But that doesn’t mean that there won’t be alla novelty at Apple in August! With so many services and big software releases in beta, Apple still has some work to do in August. Here are all of the things we’ve come to expect from Apple over the month.

New products rumors

We don’t expect any new hardware releases in August at all. But then, we weren’t expecting anything in July either, and Apple released the MagSafe Battery by surprise in the middle of the month. So you can never be too much Of course.

In recent months, Apple has released its new 24-inch iMac, iPad Pro, an updated Apple TV 4K, and AirTag. Everyone expected Apple to announce new high-end MacBook Pros and a Mac mini with updated Apple Silicon (possibly the M1X chip) at WWDC in June. It didn’t happen, and now we don’t know what happens next or when it happens.

Apple still has a lot to come this year – new iPhones and Apple Watches, of course, but also new Macs, and maybe new AirPods, iPad mini, etc. We get a glimpse of everything that’s still to come in 2021, but based on the latest rumors, we shouldn’t expect anything until September. So while it’s possible AirPods or a new iPad may appear randomly on Apple.com in August, it should be a quiet month until major launches kick off in September.

Applications and software updates

Apple released iOS 14.7 on July 19 and a small bug fix 14.7.1 and security update a week later. There has been no beta of iOS 14.8, nor macOS 11.6 or any intermediate version. Unless something unusual pops up, it’s likely that the iOS 14 branch will end (except important security versions) and the next big software release will be iOS and iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, tvOS 15, and watchOS 8 this autumn. These should be released in September.

During the month of August, we can probably expect one or two major beta updates along the way. Apple is busy fixing bugs, tuning performance, and tweaking the user experience. If you are using any of these beta versions, be sure to use the Feedback app to report bugs and usability comments!

iOS 15 and iPadOS 15

We’re expecting one or two updates to the public beta of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 in August, as development wraps up before the fall launch, so you can try out operating systems. Apple’s fall before release. We do not recommend running it on a critical device.

macOS 12 Monterey

Apple’s latest version of macOS entered public beta on July 1, just a day after iOS and iPadOS. It contains a lot of new features and is expected to keep pace with the update as other operating systems.

tvOS 15

There aren’t as many new features in tvOS 15 as in iOS or macOS, but there are still some useful new features like using FaceID or TouchID to sign in to apps, Spatial Audio support with AirPods and all the news of SharePlay.

watchOS 8

If you are using the public beta of iOS 15, why not also launch the beta of watchOS 8? It comes with a handful of new features and redesigned apps, and the more tested (and the more issues you report in the Feedback app), the more stable and reliable it will be when it launches this fall.

Services

Celebrate the service of national parks

Over the past few years, Apple has celebrated the anniversary of the US National Park Service in August with a host of features across its services. There hasn’t been an announcement yet this year (it’ll likely arrive around the last week of August), but if the years gone by, here’s what you can expect: National Park charitable donations Foundation, free content on the A TV app celebrating National Parks, a playlist on Apple Music, an App Store collection, and an activity challenge for Apple Watch.

Apple TV +

There are plenty of Apple TV + shows coming this fall, with September being the most important month for new releases. But there are also things to look forward to in August! Check out our list of upcoming AppleTV + shows, series and movies for everything on the horizon.

Physical: The black comedy starring Rose Byrne concludes its first season on August 6.

Ted Lasso: The second season continues with episodes 3 through 6.

Mr. Corman: A dark comedy about a school teacher whose dreams remain unfulfilled. Joseph Gordon-Levitt writes, performs and produces. Premiere on August 6.

CODA: A coming-of-age story about a high school student who is the only hearing person in her deaf family and is torn between keeping this unity together or pursuing her own dreams. Premiere on August 13.

To see: The second season of Apple’s big-budget action-adventure series starring Jason Momoa adds a new actor: Dave Bautista. Premiere on August 27.

Apple Arcade

Apple launches new games on Apple Arcade on Friday, but not all Friday is marked by a new game or an important update. See our Apple Arcade FAQ for a full list of Apple Arcade games and more details about the service. Many games are released without warning, but you will often see a few projects listed in the Upcoming section.

It looks like Apple Arcade releases are finally starting to speed up a bit, in part thanks to Apple’s new policy change that existing games from the App Store can find their way to Arcade with a “+” at the end (and maybe some tweaking). Here are the titles slated for launch this month:

Super Stickman Golf 3+ (August 6): First released in 2016, this revival features all of the paid content from the original game.

Super Leap Day (August 6): An original arcade title, this is one of those one button auto scrolling racing games. Crochet here is a new level of challenge every day.

Baldo the guardian owls (August 27): An action-adventure RPG with puzzles and “complex dungeons” to solve.

And here’s what we see on the Coming Soon list that could land in August:

Monster Hunter Stories +: Not to be confused with the new Monster Hunter Stories 2 Switch game, this game first released on the App Store in 2018 as a mobile version of the Nintendo 3DS game.

word web: An original arcade title, this word-puzzler will be familiar to Scrabble fans.

Tetris Beat: A cross between Tetris and a rhythm game, with 18 licensed tracks and new tracks added every month.