Safari is getting even better and you can test it out on your own Mac right now

Stage Manager running Safari on a MacBook Air
(Image credit: iMore/Joe Wituschek)

Apple has released its latest Safari Technology Preview, a version of its Mac Safari web browser that is used as a way to get experimental features into the hands of testers before making them available to a wider audience.

This latest release is Safari Technology Preview 171, and it can now be downloaded from Apple's servers for free should you want to take it for a spin.

However, most people should probably leave the testing to developers and those who build websites — Safari Technology Preview releases are rarely about adding fancy new features, instead tweaking the underlying browser technology.

What's new?

Apple's Safari Technology Preview release notes detail what's gone into this new release including changes to Web Inspector, CSS, CSS Counter Styles, Web Animations, Rendering, Javascript, Popover, Web API, Media, Accessibility, and SVG support.

Those who do install the macOS Safari Technology Preview can continue to use their normal Safari browser alongside it, with both versions functioning independently.

We can expect to see new things from Safari next week, during the WWDC 2023 opening keynote on June 5. The event will likely see the unveiling of macOS 14, complete with a new version of the Safari web browser among other things.

The same event is expected to see Apple announce iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, both also very likely to have their own Safari tweaks independent of those that are made on the Mac.

While initial beta versions of those software updates are expected to be made available to developers on June 5, the releases won't be ready for the public until much later in the year. If Apple follows its own release pattern we can likely expect the updates to land in or around September of October, depending on the development cycle.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.