Delay would mirror a slight lag in beta availability.
by Andrew Cunningham – Aug 19 2013, 5:00pm EDT
IOS & IDEVICES
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All of these devices will receive iOS 7, but they may not all get it at the same time.
Apple
Apple is supposedly having an event on September 10, and one of the rumored announcements for this hypothetical event is the final version of iOS 7. While support is planned for the iPhones 4, 4S, and 5; the fifth-generation iPod touch; and the iPad 2, iPad mini, and both Retina iPads, a report from 9to5Mac says that the tablet builds are running behind the phone builds and may be delayed slightly.
Citing "chatter within Apple" and a feeling among developers that the iPad builds are relatively "unstable and unreliable," the report says that Apple may opt to upgrade its tablets in a 7.0.1 release that trails the iPhone’s upgrade by a few weeks. The beta builds of iOS 7 also came to the iPhones first—the public beta introduced after WWDC supported iPhones and iPods, but it wasn’t until Beta 2 was issued two weeks later that the software could be installed on iPads.
There is historical precedent for small, temporary software fragmentation between Apple’s small- and large-screened devices. The original iPad shipped with a tablet-exclusive version 3.2 of what would come to be called iOS, and only iPhones and iPods ever saw iOS versions 4.0 and 4.1. A delayed release for the iPad version of iOS 7 would be the first major split between the phones and tablets since iOS 4.2 brought them together back in November of 2010, though.
This iOS delay is the most significant of the rumors that have been flying around today, but this close to an Apple event the rumor mill is running in high gear. AllThingsD reports that Apple will be introducing a golden iPhone alongside the current white and black versions, for example, while the Wall Street Journal’s sources tell it that the long-rumored "low-cost iPhone" will be introduced alongside a new flagship version at the event next month.
READER COMMENTS 6
Andrew Cunningham / Andrew has a B.A. in Classics from Kenyon College and has over five years of experience in IT. His work has appeared on Charge Shot!!! and AnandTech.
via Report: iOS 7 may come to iPhones and iPod touches first, iPads later | Ars Technica.
