Fixing Bugs Now: Apple Pushes Back Release of 2021 iPhone and Mac Software
Apple Inc. has taken an unusual step by temporarily halting the progress of next year’s software updates for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and other devices. This decision was made in order to address any existing flaws or glitches in the code.
The delay, which was communicated internally to employees last week, was to help maintain quality control after a rash of bugs in early versions, according to people with knowledge of the decision. Instead of adding new features, the company’s engineers were tasked with fixing flaws and improving the software’s performance, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.
A spokesperson for the Cupertino, California-based company declined to comment.
Famous for its clean interfaces, easy-to-use controls and focus on privacy, Apple’s software is one of its biggest selling points. This makes quality control essential. But the company must balance the desire to add new features with ensuring that its operating systems run as smoothly as possible.
In recent years, Apple has put more emphasis on quality – even if it meant delaying new features. In 2018, software engineering manager Craig Federighi delayed several unreleased iPhone features until the following year because the software was too buggy.
In 2019, he revamped the way Apple develops software to try to avoid problems. The approach requires each feature to be enabled manually – through a process called “feature flags” so that employee testers can isolate the impact to the entire system before adding it.
That year he also adopted what is known at Apple as “The Pact”. The contract requires employees to never knowingly allow “regressions” — when software that once worked stops working properly — and to fix bugs quickly. Federigh’s practices have helped: Apple’s software releases have been less buggy in recent years, and fewer features have had to be delayed.
But the latest round of development hasn’t gone as smoothly. While reviewing new operating systems to be released next year, the software engineering management team found too many “escape points” — the industry term for bugs missed during internal testing. So the division took the unusual step of halting all new feature development for a week to fix bugs.
With thousands of different Apple employees working on multiple operating systems and devices—which need to work seamlessly together—it’s easy for glitches to occur. “It’s a problem with 10,000 people writing code and completely breaking the operating system,” said one person familiar with the situation.
Last month, the company completed the first version of the following iPhone, iPad and Mac operating systems. This iteration is known as M1 because it is the first major milestone. The iPhone and iPad software that will become iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 is internally called “Crystal”. The Mac software, macOS 15, is called “Glow”.
Apple delayed the start of work on another milestone release, called the M2. The shutdown also affected the next Apple Watch operating system – watchOS 11, which is called “Moonstone” – as well as an update to the current iOS 17 operating system called iOS 17.4. This software used by iPhone and iPad is expected to be released next March.
The change also affected future versions of visionOS, the software for Apple’s Vision Pro headset, which is scheduled to be released early next year. However, at this point, development delays are unlikely to delay actual consumer releases. Apple is lifting the hiatus this week.
Apple usually releases its major software updates every September after presenting them to developers and consumers at its June conference. Next year, the company plans to focus on integrating creative artificial intelligence into its products.
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