Word's on the street that Apple will push out the newest version of its operating system for iDevices, dubbed iOS 7, in September this year per reports.
According to a Bloomberg report, Apple is on course to release iOS 7 in September.
"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," reports Bloomberg.
The September timeline seems to reinstate Apple CEO Tim Cook's statement that the company's "teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware and services we can't wait introduce this fall and throughout 2014."
At an earnings call, Cook let slip to investors that they could expect a line-up of new products this fall, hinting at the launch of iPhone 5S and iPad mini 2 which would likely run on iOS 7.
Apple is also expected to demo its iOS 7 at WWDC, the Cupertino giant's annual developers conference, this summer.
Since the first-ever iPhone was introduced in 2007, Apple hasn't changed the operating system's look and has stuck to the tried and tested for the iOS platform.
With increasing competition from rival ecosystems like BlackBerry 10, Android, Windows Phone 8, Apple needs to pull up its socks and bring something new consumers' way before the OS is seen as outdated.
Apple's main challenge lies in retaining the intuitiveness of iOS, which has made it so popular, as well as overhauling the look and feel of the OS.
"The key question here is whether those changes deliver on the core Apple promise of improving customers' ability to make productive use of the device and deliver a clearly superior experience," Forrester analyst Charles Golvin told AllThingsD. "Presumably they don't need the flashy stuff to realize that vision."
With iOS 7 rumored to launch in September, it is likely that the iPhone 5S and iPad mini 2 will make their debut.
