Apple admits too many bugs in its firmware and delays development of iOS 18 and macOS 15

In a recent report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, it has been revealed that Apple is putting a temporary hold on the development of new features for its upcoming operating systems, iOS 18 and macOS 15. The reason for this shift in priorities is to dedicate more efforts to addressing issues and enhancing overall system performance.

Gurman writes that last week, Apple informed its employees about the decision to delay the release of software updates for iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices in the coming year. This move is aimed at improving the quality of firmware in the face of a growing number of errors in current versions.

The first test versions of the M1 Crystal firmware (with the codenames iOS and iPadOS 18) and Glow (macOS 15) were completed last month. Despite substantial changes in Apple's software development process over recent years, with an emphasis on quality and preventing new errors and regressions, this early stage did not meet the expected standards.

The development team discovered an excessive number of errors that had been missed during testing, prompting a decision to halt work on the second stage (M2) in order to clean up the code. It is expected that the pause in new feature development will conclude later this week. The primary focus of Apple engineers over the past week has been on rectifying defects and enhancing software performance, rather than introducing new features.

The official unveiling of iOS 18 and macOS 15 is anticipated to occur at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. This shift towards prioritizing quality and performance may signify a renewed commitment to delivering robust and error-free software to Apple users.