Apple is counting on iOS 18 to sell uninspiring iPhone 16 line; big changes coming to the OS

Last week we told you that Apple had halted the development of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and its other operating systems like macOS and watchOS to exterminate some bugs and clean up the builds before moving on. Today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported on the behind-the-scene machinations related to Apple's decision in his weekly Power On newsletter. According to Gurman, with iOS 18, some big changes are expected and might be necessary to help sell the iPhone 16 line next year.

That's because Apple plans on bringing some new AI capabilities to the iPhone in iOS 18 as it tries to hold off Google. Additionally, Gurman says that there won't be any major changes in the iPhone next year although previous rumors call for the screens on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max to grow by approximately .2 inches to 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch respectively. The Bloomberg scribe says that iOS 18 needs to be more impressive than usual to help sell consumers on purchasing one of the 2024 iPhone models.

Gurman's report says that the decision to halt development and to clean out the bugs on the upcoming OS builds belonged to Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi. He made the calls after determining that the quality of the software at this stage was not where it should be. Apple had just completed the first internal versions of iOS 18 and macOS 15 and was already done with adding the biggest new features for the software which is known inside Apple as M1 for first milestone.

Instead of starting on M2, which normally would have happened right away, Apple took a week off to exterminate the bugs. There are four milestones for each OS and each one is approximately six weeks in length. Four of the weeks are spent adding features while exterminating bugs takes up the remaining two weeks of each milestone. Apple has spent an extra week working to de-bug the software. All four milestones are completed before Apple introduces the new software at WWDC each June.

The one-week delay in development shouldn't force Apple to make changes to the release date of iOS 18 and the other operating systems. More exciting for iPhone and iPad users is the possibility that the 2024 builds will feature design changes, new features, and improvements to security and performance. Gurman states that senior management in Cupertino is calling the upcoming releases "ambitious and compelling."