Apple Is Changing How It Builds iOS 28 and macOS 28 — More Time to Invent, Less Time to Put It Together

Apple has made a change to its development process for iOS 28, macOS 28 and the corresponding software updates, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter on November 8, he said Apple separates development of each year's new operating systems into three major stages, known internally as M1, M2 and M3. Typically, each stage consists of four weeks of coding followed by a four-week "convergence" period, when new features are integrated into the operating systems. This time around, Apple has made a change — and it is a change that tells you something about where the company's priorities are.

Six weeks to build, two weeks to put together

The first stage of development for iOS 28 and the other updates consisted of six weeks of coding and two weeks of feature convergence. "Instead of the normal split between two four-week efforts, Apple engineers were tasked with six weeks of coding, exploration and feature development, and then only two weeks of convergence," Gurman wrote. "Employees say they like the change, indicating that it creates more time for coming up with ideas and exploring them before needing to lock things in." The projects carry internal codenames: iOS 28 and iPadOS 28 are reportedly called Bell, while macOS 28 is Poppy. The reasoning is fairly straightforward. Integration becomes harder as a release develops, because each new feature has to work with everything already built. At M1, little has been completed, so less integration work is needed — which makes the first milestone the cheapest place to buy extra creative time. The shift also comes as Apple works to accelerate its software and AI ambitions.

The trade-off, and when we will see the result

The extra coding time means less time to integrate the new features into the operating system — two weeks less than usual. The shorter convergence period leaves less time for integrating features and resolving conflicts between different software components, and Apple has yet to confirm whether it will apply the revised schedule to subsequent development milestones. Development of the M2 milestone kicked off on Monday, November 9, and this is the period when the company will start to finalise what it plans to include for users. Gurman did not reveal any specific features planned for iOS 28. The update should be unveiled at WWDC in June 2027, available in beta in June and released in September next year — so users will not see any effect for a while, and the results of the new schedule will not be clear until iOS 28 and macOS 28 are released.

Sources

• MacRumors — Apple Taking New Approach to Developing iOS 28 and macOS 28
• Cult of Mac — Apple shakes up iOS 28 and macOS 28 development cycle