Apple today pushed the watchOS 9.6 Developer Preview Beta 2 update (internal version number: 20U5538d) to Apple Watch users, this update is 12 days away from the last release.
Note that due to server configuration caching issues across Apple’s regional nodes, there may be a slight delay in detecting the update in some locations, generally within half an hour, not too long.
Users can download watchOS 9.6 by going to General > Software Update from the dedicated Apple Watch app on their iPhone. To update to the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have 50% battery power and must be placed on the charger and within communication range of the iPhone it is paired with.
It’s unclear what Apple has introduced in watchOS 9.6 Beta 2. Apple will hold WWDC 2023 next month, when the company will announce beta versions of iOS 17, watchOS 10, macOS 14 and tvOS 17.
So watchOS 9.6 seems more likely to focus on fixing bugs and improving the overall performance of the system.
