Juli Clover, MacRumors:

Apple today released a surprise iOS 13.1 beta, which is unprecedented as the company has never before released a point update for an unreleased software update.

This is a notable move by Apple. To clarify, developers now have access to both an iOS 13 beta series, as well as a first beta for iOS 13.1. Two beta threads to follow.

Hard to know the true rationale behind this forking beta, but given how close we are to the supposed September 10th Apple iPhone event, this feels like a move to push some features off to 13.1 so iOS 13 itself can reach golden master status in time for the new iPhones to ship.

Is this the emergence of a new beta strategy for Apple, a sign of what to expect with future OS releases, or just a one time thing?

UPDATE: I received a surprising number of comments from people pointing out that this is not really a fork, in the software development sense of the word. I yield to my betters, but I’m still kinda happy with the double entendre.