Apple has taken the rare step of briefly pausing progress on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. This will affect updates to existing iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and potentially new versions planned for 2024.
Writing for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman reported on Apple’s recent hiatus by adding new features to iPhone, iPad, and Mac codebases to address a larger-than-normal set of problems in other operating systems:
The delay, announced internally to workers last week, was aimed at maintaining quality control after a proliferation of insects in early launches, according to other people familiar with the decision. Instead of adding new features, the company’s engineers were tasked with resolving the flaws. and the performance of the software, said the other people, who asked not to be known because the matter is private.
According to Gurman’s sources, the delay occurred at the first primary level of development. This moment is confusingly classified as M1, likely Milestone 1, and not as a reference to the Apple Silicon chipset. Like any large-scale project, there are times to pause. and take inventory of the entire project. In the case of Apple’s upcoming operating systems, by adding iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, engineers discovered too many bugs that hadn’t been detected in pre-M1 tests.
The solution? Pause the move to start the M2 procedure and have everyone pass the error check.
It’s unclear exactly what effect this pause will have on the release of operating system updates and the launch of new products. Apple periodically releases hardware and software updates in parallel, but the first product releases are already finalized for 2023. Updates for the iPad and MacBook Air lineup are expected in the first part of 2024. Gurman notes that the pause includes a major update for the iPhone running iOS 17. 4, which is scheduled for release by the end of the first quarter of 2024.
Big projects will have built-in pauses, but a pause of this nature through Apple is a “rare” event.
Android went through a similar hiatus with the release of Android 14. Google added an unplanned fifth beta to Android 14 in mid-August 2023, suggesting that more patching and software testing was needed. This delayed the full release of Android 14 from the planned September. 8 date until October 4, a delay that forced brands like OnePlus to delay updates to their operating system, given that they were based on Android 14.
Although the delay in Android production came much later than Apple’s current hiatus, it underscores that the complexity of a modern operating system requires careful and responsible management, regardless of platform.
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