The Release Cycle of Apple's Software Projects: What Does This Pause Mean for iOS 18 and Beyond?

Considering iOS 17, macOS 14, Etc., just launched in September, some people might think that their placements are still in the planning phases. However, no Apple's well past that last month. The company completed the first version of the next iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating systems, as reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday. This marks the beginning of a new major milestone, known as M1.

Since it's the first major milestone after reaching Milestone 1, developers reportedly stopped adding new features to Milestone 2 because the code had too many bugs. Apple's decision to pause feature development at this point is likely due to the complexities and challenges involved in refining their software projects. As a result, iOS 18, macOS 15, and watchOS 11 are still several months away.

While this brief delay might have no effect on users, it could potentially impact Apple Executives' ambitions for future releases. The pause may serve as a reminder to focus on refining and stabilizing their software before introducing new features. This approach allows the company to maintain quality control and avoid releasing buggy products that might frustrate customers.

My understanding of how Apple works on these giant software projects is that they don't simply ship one version and then start working on the next. Instead, they break down their efforts into smaller teams, each responsible for specific features or components. For instance, there's a Safari team, a photos team, and so on. Within these teams, there are additional groups working on specific aspects of the project.

It's difficult to estimate how long individual projects take to develop, but it can be years. When I was at WWDC, I spoke with someone who was working on stage manager, and he told me that they had been working on this for 12 years. This anecdote highlights the complexity and time required to develop software that meets Apple's high standards.

At some point, all these teams will come together and be rebased into specific releases, ready for deployment in a new major version. For instance, when this team was ready with stage manager, it would have been integrated into iOS 18 or another upcoming release. This process ensures that the company can roll out refined software to their users in a timely manner.

This pause does tell us that the next major software releases will likely be significant ones with many features added. However, if there are so many new features that they started breaking catastrophically by Milestone one, it means Apple had to pump the brakes and work some of this stuff out. This could lead to changes in their development process for future releases.

I'm always a fan of hardening when faced with major problems like this. If they're having issues, it's best for them to take a moment and address these issues thoroughly rather than rushing through development. I continually experience issues with iOS and macOS, but there are often small things that just don't work the way they should, making me frustrated.

It seems that this pause is not going to be very long, and users may not even notice it. A recent story from Gman mentioned that despite the pause for bug fixing, Apple will still add a significant number of new features to iOS 18. I'd like to know more about how unusual this process is and whether it's a regular occurrence or an anomaly.

If you have any additional context or insights on this topic, please feel free to share them in an anonymous email to feedback@driffinjones.com.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enconsidering iOS 17 macosa 14 Etc just launched in September some people might think that their placements are still in the planning phases uh no Apple's well past that last month the company completed the first version of the next iPhone iPad and Mac operating systems reported Bloomberg on Tuesday that interation known as M1 uh since it's the first major milone after reaching Milestone 1 Apple developers reportedly stopped adding new features to Milestone 2 because the code had too many bugs M as iOS 18 Mac OS 15 and watchos 11 are still many months away it's possible this brief delay will have no effect on users on the other hand it bump my microphone there on the other hand it might cause Apple Executives to be less ambitious about how many additional features can go into the next major versions when they launch in Fall 2024 I just wanted to to mention this because um my understanding of like you know how Apple Works on these giant software projects broadly is that you know it's not like they they ship iOS 17 and then they start thinking oh well let's let's start working on iOS 18 I mean internally like like they they focus on these these different teams like there's their Safari team their photos team and then you know within those specifically they have different teams working on like specific features you could take like years in the making you know that I can't imagine how long like the the team that was working on um iCloud showed photo library probably had to work on that uh when I was at WWDC I was talking to a guy who like said he was working on stage manager and I was like oh how long did that take and he was like we've been working on this a long time for many many years 12 years like and this is what you came up with so like at some point all these teams working on these features once they get close enough they will then start to be like rebased into specific releases like okay our team will be ready to go by the next major version and so that'll be rolled into iOS 18 and all that and um I think that if anything this story tells me that the next major software releases are going to be pretty big ones with a lot of features on the as opposed to what uh Ed was speculating here if there are so many new features that like by Milestone one like the entire thing was like breaking catastrophically so they had to like pump the brakes and say hold on we got to we got to work some of this stuff out that could mean there some changes coming to the next major releases in my opinion yeah I you know I'm always a fan of hardening like if they're having major problems and they want to they want to take a moment and actually address a lot of those issues I'm I'm always a fan of that like you know I continually have issues with iOS and Mac OS and there's little things that just don't work the way that that that they're supposed to work and they're they're kind of buggy and I'm like d they just drives me crazy so but it seems like this pause is going to be not very long and to your earlier comment maybe something that we don't even notice I saw a story from Gman that said even though that they're taking this pause to do bug fixing they're still going to be adding a bunch of new major features to iOS 18 so I would also like to know like how unusual is this like do they is this is this like the anonymous source who you know slipped this information to Mark Gman didn't add the context maybe it's somebody who's new at Apple like you know he didn't he didn't specify like whether this is a regular part of the process or not like it could just be like you know every few Milestones they they stop adding new features and they just work out bugs until the next one and you know we don't really know that much if you have any if you have any additional context to add you can send me an anonymous email feedback driffin jones.com let me knowconsidering iOS 17 macosa 14 Etc just launched in September some people might think that their placements are still in the planning phases uh no Apple's well past that last month the company completed the first version of the next iPhone iPad and Mac operating systems reported Bloomberg on Tuesday that interation known as M1 uh since it's the first major milone after reaching Milestone 1 Apple developers reportedly stopped adding new features to Milestone 2 because the code had too many bugs M as iOS 18 Mac OS 15 and watchos 11 are still many months away it's possible this brief delay will have no effect on users on the other hand it bump my microphone there on the other hand it might cause Apple Executives to be less ambitious about how many additional features can go into the next major versions when they launch in Fall 2024 I just wanted to to mention this because um my understanding of like you know how Apple Works on these giant software projects broadly is that you know it's not like they they ship iOS 17 and then they start thinking oh well let's let's start working on iOS 18 I mean internally like like they they focus on these these different teams like there's their Safari team their photos team and then you know within those specifically they have different teams working on like specific features you could take like years in the making you know that I can't imagine how long like the the team that was working on um iCloud showed photo library probably had to work on that uh when I was at WWDC I was talking to a guy who like said he was working on stage manager and I was like oh how long did that take and he was like we've been working on this a long time for many many years 12 years like and this is what you came up with so like at some point all these teams working on these features once they get close enough they will then start to be like rebased into specific releases like okay our team will be ready to go by the next major version and so that'll be rolled into iOS 18 and all that and um I think that if anything this story tells me that the next major software releases are going to be pretty big ones with a lot of features on the as opposed to what uh Ed was speculating here if there are so many new features that like by Milestone one like the entire thing was like breaking catastrophically so they had to like pump the brakes and say hold on we got to we got to work some of this stuff out that could mean there some changes coming to the next major releases in my opinion yeah I you know I'm always a fan of hardening like if they're having major problems and they want to they want to take a moment and actually address a lot of those issues I'm I'm always a fan of that like you know I continually have issues with iOS and Mac OS and there's little things that just don't work the way that that that they're supposed to work and they're they're kind of buggy and I'm like d they just drives me crazy so but it seems like this pause is going to be not very long and to your earlier comment maybe something that we don't even notice I saw a story from Gman that said even though that they're taking this pause to do bug fixing they're still going to be adding a bunch of new major features to iOS 18 so I would also like to know like how unusual is this like do they is this is this like the anonymous source who you know slipped this information to Mark Gman didn't add the context maybe it's somebody who's new at Apple like you know he didn't he didn't specify like whether this is a regular part of the process or not like it could just be like you know every few Milestones they they stop adding new features and they just work out bugs until the next one and you know we don't really know that much if you have any if you have any additional context to add you can send me an anonymous email feedback driffin jones.com let me know\n"