‘iPhone 5S‘ rumor season has been in full swing for a while now, and we’ve even heard a fair bit of chatter about Apple’s next-gen iPad and iPad mini. The iWatch and the fabled Apple television have even made obligatory appearances in the speculative Apple stew – but the one thing we haven’t heard much about yet is iOS 7. John Gruber has just rectified that imbalance.
In a Branch discussion between a number of notably well-sourced Apple journalists, including Rene Ritchie of iMore, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, TechCrunch’s MG Siegler, The Next Web’s Matthew Panzarino, and others, Gruber reveals the latest information he’s received about iOS 7. According to Gruber, iOS 7 will bring a significantly redesigned user interface – likely due to Jony Ive’s increased involvement. As such, Apple is reportedly behind schedule on iOS 7, and is pulling engineers from OS X 10.9 development to compensate.
What I’ve heard: iOS 7 is running behind, and engineers have been pulled from OS X 10.9 to work on it. […]
Regarding Ive: Word on the street is that iOS engineers with carry privileges all have some sort of polarizing filter on their iPhone displays, such that it greatly decreases viewing angles, thus making it difficult for observers to see the apparently rather significant system-wide UI overhaul.
It wouldn’t be the first time Apple has pulled resources from OS X for the benefit of iOS – Apple also delayed the release of OS X Leopard in 2009 to focus on the iPhone. Aside from iOS 7, Rene Ritchie notes that he’s still hearing that Apple will hold an event sometime this month to launch new iPad hardware – and that whisper is backed by several of the other journalists joining the chat.
Apple’s iPhone plans also came into the discussion, with the MG Siegler noting that he’s still hearing Apple may include a biometric sensor on the iPhone 5S, which could come into play with an update to Apple’s Passbook. As for the release date, the next-gen iPhone is expected to launch sometime between June and August of this year.
Those are just some of the significant highlights from this Apple insider power chat – check out the full discussion on Branch for all the details!
