We reported that iOS 7 is rumored to be getting a major redesign that has been long overdue. It will reportedly be "very, very flat", similar to the flat appearance of Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 operating system. Who would have thought Apple would be taking design inspiration from Microsoft? Apparently Apple and in particular Apple's design Genius, Jony Ive.
It is now being reported that due to Jony Ive's major iOS 7 redesign, Apple might be forced to delay the release of iOS 7 or scale back some of its new features, to be released at a later date. It has been reported that Apple has had to remove staff from the Mac OS X team to work on iOS 7 in order to get the software on track for a June preview and September release. Greg Sterling, an Analyst at Opus Research told Bloomberg:
"Apple is really under tremendous pressure to come out with something different and something new. Ive has a tremendous sense of design, and he's been the guru behind a lot of these enormously successful products, but he's always had someone like a Jobs to push back on him and give him some guidance, and it's not clear that Tim Cook is capable of playing that role. Maybe without a collaborator, he's not as strong."
This sounds like déjà vu, back in 2007 when Apple was finishing up the software for the original iPhone there were also reports of it being delayed. Apple had to pull workers from the Mac team to work on the iPhone's operating system in order for it to be ready for its June release.
Sources claim that Ive has been "methodically" reviewing all design aspects of iOS 7 in order to not repeat the public humiliation Apple faced last year with iOS 6 and its Maps fiasco. iOS 7 is coming at a time when Apple can't afford any mishaps, it has been facing criticism by some for not being as innovative as it once was.
"The introduction of new features, along with an emphasis on cooperation and deliberation, comes at a cost for Cupertino, California-based Apple. Engineers are racing to finish iOS 7, the next version of the mobile software, in time for a June preview at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference. While the company still expects to release iOS 7 on time as soon as September, internal deadlines for submitting features for testing are being set later than past releases. Bigger shifts, to such features as e-mail, may not even be ready this year and may be introduced in future releases, people said."
It's pretty safe to assume that if Apple is having issues with iOS 7, it will work them out before it shows off the next-generation operating system to the world in June. We might not get to see every new feature of iOS 7 at WWDC in June, but Apple is known for showing off some amazing new features that we weren't shown before. We met Siri at the iPhone 4S event in October 2011 not at WWDC 2011; we'll probably get a similar surprise and hopefully more at the iPhone 5S' rumored September launch event.
