iOS 18 Updates Continue to Cause Delays in Apple's iOS 19 Plans

[Zdigital2015]

Dear Apple…maybe, just maybe, it’s time to slow down on the annual update cadence. I know it’s free PR and sets up the new iPhone release, but it might be time to give the devs some breathing room and set iOS on a solid foundation for the next 10 releases. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I see nothing wrong with releasing iOS 19 next September. People can still buy new phones with the latest version of iOS 18.

 

[9081094]

iOS 19 need to be bug fixes no new features

And getting even further behind the development of Android? It took Samsung 2 months to develop the same look and feel iOS 18 is giving with their new UI. Everybody is already years ahead of what Apple is offering.

It’s a shame this is happening. It’s a multibillion company and it is scrambling to keep up in hard- and software.

Maybe a bit less profit and more investment in hard- and software engineers?

 

[petekjohnson]

Apple's staggered release of iOS 18 features is reportedly causing delays in the development of iOS 19, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Historically, Apple has unveiled new software features at WWDC in June and then released fully complete software updates in September alongside new iPhone models. However, thanks to the gradual rollout of Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18, iPhone users look set for a long wait before they get to use many of the new iOS 19 features that Apple will inevitably promote at WWDC 2025.

In a new post on X (Twitter), Gurman said that he continues to hear that engineers who would typically be transitioning to work on the next major iOS version are still occupied with implementing features for iOS 18 updates through iOS 18.4, expected in the spring.

Gurman reports that this extended rollout of iOS 18 features through various point releases is creating a cascading effect on iOS 19's development timeline. The situation is unfortunately expected to result in a similarly staggered deployment of features in the next iOS cycle that is likely to frustrate many Apple users.

The latest development follows a report from Gurman last month that iOS 19 will include a significant Siri upgrade powered by large language models, making the assistant more conversational and similar to ChatGPT. Apple is expected to preview this enhancement at WWDC 2025 in June, but it won't be available until iOS 19.4 in the spring of 2026.

The current focus on iOS 18 updates appears to be affecting more than just the Siri upgrade, though. Gurman in November said that "a larger-than-usual number of features" initially planned for iOS 19's release are now postponed until iOS 19.4.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1867080628728107027

Apple on Wednesday released iOS 18.2, introducing several new Apple Intelligence features that it has been advertising since September when the iPhone 16 series launched. iOS 18.2 is the last iOS update of 2024, with iOS 18.3 and iOS 18.4 set to bring on-screen awareness to Siri, deeper per-app controls, and several other enhancements.

Article Link: iOS 18 Updates Continue to Cause Delays in Apple's iOS 19 Plans

The Siri improvements would have been vastly more useful than genmoji or writing tools. Stupid.

 

[DaniTheFox]

The current design language could use a bit more detail and realism and layering, but I sure a heck don’t want to see skeuomorphic realistic icons back in the mix. That ship sailed a long time ago. The Germans seem to really miss Aqua icons, though, like, A LOT.

I concur with your observation. Everyone attempts to draw a trashcan with the fewest strokes possible.
However, not everyone possesses the ability to draw with a single line, as exemplified by Oscar Niemeyer, this is the universally recognized silhouette of Brasilia.

 

[stevemiller]

friendly reminder this is what apple thinks people want them spending their time on instead of testing updates to not brick devices, and making basic things work without jank:

and for everyone who says "you think the person doing this is the same person fixing the bug you're experiencing?" ... this report pretty much confirms they still have finite resources to allocate, and chasing ai trends has been what they've prioritized.

also i'd argue, this is the stuff instagram and snapchat should be doing. this doesn't need to be baked into devices at the operating system level.

 

[LV426]

If only Apple execs and shareholders weren't so insistent on having something for sale each and every Christmas...

Why not give it a break and let the software developers catch up?

 

[Devyn89]

That’s fine imo. I’d rather they release things as they’re ready. I’d be fine if they delayed iOS 19 to December of next year if they need to.

 

[flybass]

friendly reminder this is what apple thinks people want them spending their time on instead of testing updates to not brick devices, and making basic things work without jank:
View attachment 2461539

and for everyone who says "you think the person doing this is the same person fixing the bug you're experiencing?" ... this report pretty much confirms they still have finite resources to allocate, and chasing ai trends has been what they've prioritized.

also i'd argue, this is the stuff instagram and snapchat should be doing. this doesn't need to be baked into devices at the operating system level.

Agree. The image playground is some gen z crap.

 

[goonie4life9]

Sadly, this is what happens when you pretend you're a "startup," but have millions of devices and millions of users on a mature platform.

 

[uiop.]

Engineers are stuck working on iOS 18 projects

Great! iOS 18 is still an unrefined disaster, finish it before moving on.

 

[Populus]

They would never do this, but I'll say it anyway: keep iOS 18 around another year. Take the development energy that would've been put into iOS 19 and use it to continue adding the Apple Intelligence features they love so dearly through 18.X upgrades and focus on removing bugs and cleaning up the OS. Win-win.

While I agree that would be the best solution, and I also agree that they just won’t do it, there’s a way for everyone (users, developers and shareholders) to be happy: keep the iOS 18 development one more year, but call it iOS 19 when it’s time to add a few more features in WWDC ‘25

No drastic changes on the kernel or base functionality, in fact they should limit themselves to add those 3 to 4 new features and support for the newer iPhones on top of the previous code, while keeping the refinement of it.

They sort of did this already during the pandemic: iOS 13-14-15 was like an extended release of the same OS. In that case it was because of the limitations of working from home. And now, due to the challenges of AI integration, the deployment of such features (current and future ones) could be done through iOS 18-19-20.

Yes, extending the major release to once every two years could be ideal. But we don’t live in that ideal world and people is so used to consuming new tech thanks to new “goodies” like a new OS, that a second year with no changes would make people complain about it being boring. I’ve read it too many times already: “Apple should change this or that, iOS is becoming boring”. They sort of treat their devices like toys, and expect periodical stimulation in form of changes for the sake of it.

 

[9081094]

If only Apple execs and shareholders weren't so insistent on having something for sale each and every Christmas...

Why not give it a break and let the software developers catch up?

Why not hire more software developers for building faster and squashing bugs?

Apple needs faster development badly because the gap between Apple and the competition is widening every month.

 

[uiop.]

.

 

[ignatius345]

I agree, but how about announcing said features when they are done, and not a minute before?

Because of marketing :/ The hardware has more or less settled into a set design and "it's got a nicer camera and a brighter display" doesn't move enough units on its own. Those quarterly sales targets aren't going to fulfill themselves.

I totally agree, and would rather have a fully-baked feature even if it takes longer, versus having stuff land on my phone that I know will be rough and I'll have to wait for it to get polished (hopefully).

 

[klasma]

At least the phones are still being released in one piece.

 

[RemedyRabbit]

Not wanting to come across all overdramatic, but if they don’t make meaningful improvements to the Music app next year I’m gonna be moving over to Spotify.

Music has seen zero innovation in years. There’s so much low hanging fruit there too, they just don’t seem to care. It’s really broken on Mac OS too, the list of long term unfixed bugs is building up and up.

grumblegrumblegrumble

 

[9081094]

I agree, but how about announcing said features when they are done, and not a minute before?

Apple had to show something. Apple was already very late to the AI party.

Apple did the same as Microsoft did in the past: showing new features and promising much more.

WWDC 2024 was proof that Apple was way behind in AI. There were no classes to follow for AI. The reason they’re releasing it all over this and next year is because they’re scrambling to deliver. All the big technology firms are already years ahead of what Apple hopefully delivers next year. By the time Apple is finished what they promised for iOS 18 others probably release new things we will see in iOS 19 or 20 if we’re lucky.

Same for HomeKit, CarPlay, gameplay on Mac or macpro,s. All categories that aren’t taken serious by Apple.

In my opinion Apple has lost it’s focus and is losing out on many fronts. If only Timmy spend some more of its billions in hard- software engineers Apple would be able to keep up with the rest.

 

[iPhoneFan5349]

Apple got caught so off guard it's not even funny. Frederighi needs to go, software it's always behind and so lackluster, anyone that has used Android knows this. Head of software needs to go because it's not only the iPhone, it's the Mac, the Apple Watch, the Vision Pro, lacking basic features that competition has had for years.

 

[iPhoneFan5349]

Not wanting to come across all overdramatic, but if they don’t make meaningful improvements to the Music app next year I’m gonna be moving over to Spotify.

Music has seen zero innovation in years. There’s so much low hanging fruit there too, they just don’t seem to care. It’s really broken on Mac OS too, the list of long term unfixed bugs is building up and up.

grumblegrumblegrumble

Everything Apple does regarding software is really bad and it has been for a long time. The problem is the competition focuses on selling your information and their hardware is not as great as Apple's

 

[xpxp2002]

Yeah, you can not hire SW engeneers like workers to Chinese phone factory based on demand.

I mean, they just spent the past two years on constructive dismissals with unnecessary RTO mandates, and probably lost their best engineers to it — the ones who have the skills to go find work elsewhere.

Maybe if they focused on adapting to a modern, distributed, remote workforce instead of fighting it, they’d have the talent and capacity to accomplish their goals on time.

 

[9081094]

Not wanting to come across all overdramatic, but if they don’t make meaningful improvements to the Music app next year I’m gonna be moving over to Spotify.

Music has seen zero innovation in years. There’s so much low hanging fruit there too, they just don’t seem to care. It’s really broken on Mac OS too, the list of long term unfixed bugs is building up and up.

grumblegrumblegrumble

It looks Apple doesn’t care on many fronts, not only music. They’re getting leapfrogged by competitors in categories they were once king.

Time for Timmy to spend more of the billions in R&D, hard- and software engineers. The gap with the competition is widening each month.

 

[ellpee]

More BS from Gurman and Bloomberg. Nobody at Apple is risking their future with the company by leaking product development info. But keep driving people to their articles and newsletter.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Apple had to show something. Apple was already very late to the AI party.

Apple did the same as Microsoft did in the past: showing new features and promising much more.

WWDC 2024 was proof that Apple was way behind in AI. There were no classes to follow for AI. The reason they’re releasing it all over this and next year is because they’re scrambling to deliver. All the big technology firms are already years ahead of what Apple hopefully delivers next year. By the time Apple is finished what they promised for iOS 18 others probably release new things we will see in iOS 19 or 20 if we’re lucky.

Same for HomeKit, CarPlay, gameplay on Mac or macpro,s. All categories that aren’t taken serious by Apple.

In my opinion Apple has lost it’s focus and is losing out on many fronts. If only Timmy spend some more of its billions in hard- software engineers Apple would be able to keep up with the rest.

Yea, you're right with the AI thing. It's especially frustrating for me watch because I...just...don't....give...a...crap..about..AI! Not from Apple, or openAI, or anyone else..

This is most bored I've been with software and tech in years...

 

[iPhoneFan5349]

It looks Apple doesn’t care on many fronts, not only music. They’re getting leapfrogged by competitors in categories they were once king.

Time for Timmy to spend more of the billions in R&D, hard- and software engineers. The gap with the competition is widening each month.

No, completely wrong analysis. This is not a spending issue, is a leader issue. As long as the same person is in charge nothing will change. Federighi has to go.