Apple’s scatterbrained OS-bundled software is just embarrassing at this point. Half-baked release after half-baked release. I’m convinced that modern Apple simply can’t ship good software any longer.
The “headline features simply must not slip” cadence is ruining the products. The moneymaker, the iPhone, needs the new OS to work (iPhone 18 hardware has never run on iOS 26), so the OS release can’t be delayed for any reason. The other OSes are lashed to this sinking ship, quality-wise, because they all come out together.
Once per year, everyone has to crunch against an impossible deadline, and something has to give. That thing is quality.
Its crazy to insist on releasing all new operating systems for these devices at the same time. I didn't realize they were doing that. If one team is behind they would still have to ship it anyway
This is precisely what it is, which is why 27.0.1 will come out so rapidly, and will fix the immediate jank, and then 27.1 the next month (tbh it is probably already massively underway right now and 27.0.1 is likely in testing).
I agree. I worked at a company where we transitioned to big releases aligned with a yearly event and it was a disaster. It became all about marketing and bodges.
The “headline features simply must not slip” cadence is ruining the products. The moneymaker, the iPhone, needs the new OS to work (iPhone 18 hardware has never run on iOS 26), so the OS release can’t be delayed for any reason. The other OSes are lashed to this sinking ship, quality-wise, because they all come out together.
Once per year, everyone has to crunch against an impossible deadline, and something has to give. That thing is quality.