Apple Briefly Paused Work on New Features for iOS 18 and macOS 15 to Clean Up Bugs

Apple briefly paused work on upcoming iOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11, and tvOS 18 updates last week in order to make a serious effort to address bugs in the future iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Mac releases, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

iOS 18 Mock Feature Baubles
Employees were told about a development pause last week, with engineers asked to focus on fixing flaws and boosting software performance.

Apple's software chief Craig Federighi has been making an effort in recent years to ensure that software bugs are addressed, sometimes resulting in features that need to be delayed. Sources that spoke to Gurman said that with the upcoming software updates, the software engineering management team working under Federighi found too many bugs that were missed in internal testing, leading to a week-long sprint to address the issues.

During that week period, all development on future features was stopped to allow engineers to work solely on improving the existing software. Apple is lifting the pause this week so that work on new capabilities for iOS 18 and its sister updates can continue.

Apple last month finished the first "M1" versions of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15. Work on further development was paused, with Apple also taking a brief break from working on iOS 17.4, expected to be released next March. Given that work on future software was only paused for a week, no release delays are expected next year.

Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia

Popular Stories

Verizon New

Verizon is Down: iPhones Show 'SOS' Mode Due to Network Outage [Resolved]

Wednesday January 14, 2026 10:18 am PST by
Verizon is experiencing a major outage across the U.S. today, with hundreds of thousands of customers reporting issues with the network on the website Downdetector. There are also complaints across Reddit and other social media platforms. iPhone users and others with Verizon service are generally unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or use data over 5G or LTE due to the outage....
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

New Leak Reveals iPhone 18 Pro Display Sizes, Under-Screen Face ID, and More

Wednesday January 14, 2026 7:09 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around eight months away, a leaker has shared some alleged details about the devices. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo this week, the account Digital Chat Station said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Consistent with previous...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Thursday January 15, 2026 10:56 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another eight months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models, as of January 2026: The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras Under-screen Face ID...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, Macs, and More

Thursday January 15, 2026 11:19 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the United States, according to the company's website. Most of the values declined slightly, but some of the Mac values increased. iPhone ...
maxresdefault

Google Gemini-Powered Siri Will Reportedly Have These 7 New Features

Tuesday January 13, 2026 7:52 pm PST by
Apple and Google this week announced that Gemini will help power a more personalized Siri, and The Information has provided more details. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. As soon as this spring, the report said the revamped version of Siri will be able to… Answer more factual/world knowledge questions in a conversational manner Tell more stories Provide...

Top Rated Comments

Harry Haller Avatar
29 months ago
2 year software cycles, please.
Score: 104 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johnalan Avatar
29 months ago
I support this so ****ing much.
Score: 85 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
29 months ago
That is actually a very good move, but honestly I doubt that 1 week is/was sufficient…
Score: 84 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robertosh Avatar
29 months ago
They should dedicate the full year!
Score: 63 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
29 months ago
You’d think they are big enough to have two separate teams, one focused on fixing things and another one developing new things?
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gpat Avatar
29 months ago
Now that's something new.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)