News

Apple Quickens Pace of iOS 10 Betas As Launch Date Nears

• By David Ramel
• August 22, 2016

Apple is quickening the pace of its iOS 10 beta releases as the launch date for its flagship mobile operating system nears.

No one outside of Apple knows exactly when that launch date will be, but longtime Apple watchers are indicating it should be fairly soon.

On Friday, Apple announced iOS 10 beta 7, just four days after announcing beta 6, which itself came out less than a week after beta 5 was issued along with betas for Xcode 8, macOS, iOS, watchOS and tvOS.

Apple announced the new iOS beta with a one-line post: "iOS 10 beta 7 (14A5345a) Now Available." To get more information than that, one has to be enrolled in the $99-per-year Apple Developer Program.

The increased release cadence has media outlets and pundits anticipating a final launch possibly within a month.

"Although there has been no confirmation as to how many betas the company will release before working on finalizing the Gold Master version of the software, Apple released the final beta for iOS 9 around this time last year," BGR Media LLC said in a report. "If beta 7 isn't the final version, we're certainly getting close."

"iOS 10 is currently available to developers and public beta testers, with a full public release planned for the fall," MacRumors said. "iOS 10 beta 7 is likely to be the final update before the golden master version is released."

"Apple is expected to hold a media event on Sept. 7 to announce its next-generation 'iPhone 7,' " Apple Insider said. "If the company sticks to its usual release schedule, a golden master of iOS 10 will arrive that same day, with a final public release soon after."

Among the dozens of new features in iOS 10 are: a new User Notification framework; a new speech recognition API; improved app searches; better security and privacy; and many more.