Apple has temporarily halted development of iOS 18, macOS 15, and other software platforms to address bugs and other issues that have crept up during the development process, according to a new Bloomberg report.
The company internally announced the pause in a bid to address an increasing number of bugs that have plagued future software releases. Apple engineers are now said to focus on fixing as many software issues as possible before developing new features. The pause is said to have affected all software updates that Apple plans to release next year including iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11, and visionOS.
When looking at new operating systems due for release next year, the software engineering management team found too many “escapes” — an industry term for bugs missed during internal testing. So the division took the unusual step of halting all new feature development for one week to work on fixing the bugs.
Bloomberg
The pause is said to have come after engineers found too many bugs within current internal builds. Apple has opted to pause all development of new features for one week to address those bugs. Nevertheless, iOS 18 and other software releases are still expected to be unveiled and released on schedule next year with no apparent delays so far.
Apple is also overhauling the way it internally addresses software development and its response to bugs and performance hiccups, adds the report. The company is now following a new strategy known as “The Pact,” where engineers are instructed to prevent working software from regressing into a non-functioning state and to swiftly address bugs as they appear.
The company purportedly finished developing the first milestone build of iOS 18 and other software otherwise known as M1. The second milestone build, M2, has reportedly been affected by the one-week delay and is yet to be completed.
A previous report indicated that Apple is working to integrate as many generative AI features as possible into iOS 18 and other major releases. The features are said to span Siri, Messages, Apple Music, Xcode, and more.
