it would be very unlikely that anything new with 2.2 has anything at all to do with the rift.... something that has been in the game since gamma.
Those aren't mutually exclusive statements.
Let's say that the rift is the barnacle aliens "bubble". We know the rift and Pleiades are linked after all.
Right now, there are no ship models in game, or alien AI programmed. So what we could be looking for is a lit up planet, or a space station orbiting something, or signs of intelligent life we aren't exactly sure how it would manifest even if we were looking right at it.
Post 2.2, the aliens arrive. Which means ships. Which means supercruise is about to get a lot more populated wherever the aliens are, something that will immediately be discernable once you enter a system rather than the unknown needle in a haystack we aren't even sure is the correct haystack.
All of the added visual effects to stars have been shown to be functional and present in the beta. The new ships, fighters, etc are all there. The only thing that is unlikely to appear in the beta but show up when 2.2 goes live due to the massive poop storm that would be caused are the alien fleets.