We’re in a severe beta drought.

It’s been three weeks since Apple released a new beta version of its operating systems, and one reliable tipster says we shouldn't expect iOS 15.5 until Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

This is extremely untypical of Apple, which usually releases new betas every few weeks.

So, what’s going on? It looks like Apple is learning from its past mistakes, and that’s a good thing.

In other news:

• Billionaire Elon Musk is getting into bed with Twitter, his biggest megaphone.

• iOS 15.4 promised iPhone battery improvements, but it seems to have made things worse instead.

• Check out the do-it-all selfie stick that doubles as a tripod, now on sale in the Cult of Mac Store.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

Why we should hope Apple already stopped work on iOS 15 and macOS Monterey — www.cultofmac.com

It’s now been three weeks since any Apple operating system was in public beta testing. It seems work has stopped on significant updates to iOS 15, macOS Monterey and the other OSs. And that’s a good thing. Here’s why.

Elon Musk splashes $3 billion to become Twitter’s largest shareholder — www.cultofmac.com

The purchase, revealed in a recent regulatory filing, gets Musk a whopping 73,486,938 shares in the popular social media platform. Despite being described as a passive investment, one analyst believes the move is “just the start” of Musk’s involvement.

iOS update fails to deliver promised iPhone battery improvement — www.cultofmac.com

Benchmark testing of nine different iPhone models shows that less than half of them experienced any improvement to battery life from the recent iOS 15.4.1 update, despite Apple describing that as a major feature of the new version. More of the handsets saw a decrease instead.

EasySelfie is a stick and tripod for iPhone that does it all — save 33% — www.cultofmac.com

EasySelfie from SwitchEasy is an iPhone selfie stick and tripod in one that could greatly improve your on-the-go photography game.

iPhone saves snowboarder after plunge into icy crevasse at 10,000 feet — www.cultofmac.com

Here’s a word to the wise: Always carry your charged iPhone, and don’t ski or snowboard “off-piste” in the Alps at 10,000 feet by yourself. Tim Blakey got the first part right, just barely, and that’s why he’s alive today.

Oops! Microsoft scraps embarrassing tweet that featured an M1 iMac — www.cultofmac.com

There’s one thing you don’t do if you’re on Microsoft’s social media team, and that’s promote Apple products. It seems at least one person forgot that last week.

New iPad Air dresses up festive ‘pink’ MacBook Air workstation [Setups] — www.cultofmac.com

Apple’s newest iPad Air has received some stellar reviews, though murmuring from some quarters claims it’s a bit on the flimsy side. But the owner of today’s featured setup seems over the moon about the new addition to her workstation, centered by an M1 MacBook Air and an LG display.

Tweet o' the day

One more thing ...

“First I should tell you my theory about Microsoft. Microsoft has had two goals in the last 10 years. One was to copy the Mac, and the other was to copy Lotus' success in the spreadsheet -- basically, the applications business. And over the course of the last 10 years, Microsoft accomplished both of those goals. And now they are completely lost. They were able to copy the Mac because the Mac was frozen in time. The Mac didn't change much for the last 10 years. It changed maybe 10%. It was a sitting duck. It's amazing that it took Microsoft 10 years to copy something that was a sitting duck.” -- Steve Jobs