Apple plans to unveil its next major iOS release during its upcoming WWDC conference in June, as it does each year. With the June 2nd keynote fast approaching, details have been trickling out over the past few weeks, giving us a good idea of what to expect when Apple unveils iOS 8. As it turns out, however, Apple may focus more on its upcoming Mac operating system update OS X 10.10, which is expected to be a major revision, and less on iOS. What’s more, a very reliable source now claims that several key features that were initially intended for release in iOS 8 have now been delayed.
9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman has an excellent track record when reporting on Apple’s plans. Nearly everything we know at this point about iOS 8 has come from Gurman, and now he is reporting that several of the key features that have been covered so far in previous reports may be pushed back to iOS 8.1, which will be released sometime after iOS 8 is made available to the public this fall.
Earlier reports have covered big iOS 8 feature additions including Healthbook, a standalone iTunes Radio app, big Maps improvements, new TextEdit and Preview apps, and several general enhancements. It is unclear exactly which features Apple might delay until iOS 8.1 is released, though the report notes that iOS 8.1 is already in development behind closed doors at Apple.
As for why some iOS 8 features will be pushed back to iOS 8.1, Gurman’s unnamed sources speculate that it’s because Apple has dedicated much of its resources to OS X 10.10, which is expected to be a huge overhaul of Apple’s desktop operating system.
The report also reiterates an earlier report that suggested Apple is working on adding a Shazam-like song identification feature to iOS 8.
