Apple Taking New Approach to Developing iOS 28 and macOS 28

Sunday November 8, 2026 7:42 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple has made a change to its development process for iOS 28, macOS 28, and corresponding software updates, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

iOS 28 AI
In his Power On newsletter today, he said Apple separates development of each year's new operating systems into three major stages. Typically, he said each stage consists of four weeks of coding followed by a four-week "convergence" period where new features are integrated into the operating systems. This time around, Apple has made a change.

The first stage of development for iOS 28 and the other updates apparently consisted of six weeks of coding and two weeks of feature convergence. This change gives Apple's software engineers more time to come up with new features.

"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," he said. "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."

Gurman did not reveal any specific features planned for iOS 28. The update should be available in beta in June and released in September next year.

Tags: iOS 28, Mark Gurman

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Top Rated Comments

Macbookey

48 minutes ago at 07:50 am

The entire software division needs a rethink. Someone that has user interface and design excellence, as well as engineering prowess needs too be the head honcho. The contrast between amazing hardware and poor software is getting greater with each passing year. This should be the number 1 priority at .

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

vegetassj4

47 minutes ago at 07:50 am

Apple has made a change to its development process for iOS 28, macOS 28,

So they will finally start actually beta testing, and utilizing QC before releases? Well, one can dream 😴

--------------------------------------------------------
Apple Reinvents Eight Weeks With Revolutionary Apple Eight Pro Max™ Architecture

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA — Apple today unveiled a magical new development process for iOS 28 and macOS 28. Built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence, it gives engineers 50 percent more time to reinvent old features and 50 percent less time to make them work together.

“Previously, we spent four weeks writing code and four weeks integrating it,” said CEO Johnny Appleseed. “With our breakthrough (2^2+2)+2 architecture, we’ve created a process that is exponentially better than before, and eliminated two entire weeks of finding out why that was a bad idea.”

Employees reportedly love the additional creative freedom, which allows promising concepts to grow into courageously more complicated problems before anyone has time to resolve them.

Apple declined to reveal any actual features, confirming that the innovation currently consists of finding a new way of rearranging a calendar. Apple Eight Pro Max™ - The same eight. Now with more steps.

iOS 28 arrives in September. Beta Testing continues on your iPhone through March.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

sw1tcher

41 minutes ago at 07:57 am

"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," he said.

I'd rather they spend 6 weeks on coding to knock out the bugs and polishing up (stability, performance) the OS instead of exploring new feature developments. Wasn't the idea behind iOS 27 to "Snow Leopard" it? Doesn't seem like we got that.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

ProbablyDylan

45 minutes ago at 07:52 am

It's probably faster to hook everything up in 2026. "Claude, we made x feature, integrate it with y and z. Make no mistakes."

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

phenste

51 minutes ago at 07:47 am

Thats dumb. Just let them code until its polished.

"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."

personally, i welcome this change. it seems to lean more in the direction of organic creativity than rushing against a deadline. particularly if employees themselves are giving positive feedback—that’s yet another positive tick on Ternus’s run so far ;)

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)