iOS 28: Apple changes how it's built while its CEO presses for faster AI

Apple has changed the way it builds its next operating systems. Until now, a stage of iOS development typically split into four weeks of coding and four of integration. For iOS 28, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports via MacRumors, the first stage ran six weeks of coding and only two of integration. In the same newsletter he says CEO John Ternus has been pressing software chief Craig Federighi to move faster on AI. Apple has not confirmed either report.

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Our 26-second version:

Image: Daniel L. Lu, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How is iOS 28 being developed differently?

According to Gurman, Apple splits each year's OS work into three major stages. Each one normally has a four-week coding period followed by a four-week "convergence" period, when new features are folded into the system and stabilised.

The first stage for iOS 28, macOS 28 and the matching updates did not follow that split. "Apple engineers were tasked with six weeks of coding, exploration and feature development," Gurman wrote, "and then only two weeks of convergence."

 Diagram: NextDiff, from Mark Gurman's Power On via MacRumors

Six plus two is still eight, so on these numbers the stage is no longer or shorter. The time simply moved. Gurman says employees like the change, because it leaves more room to try ideas before they have to be locked in.

Anyone who ships software will spot the trade-off. Integration is where features collide with each other and bugs surface. Gizmodo wondered whether squeezing that window will mean more bugs. Nobody outside Apple can answer that yet, and the report covers only the first stage.

Image: Apple (WWDC26 session "Build intelligent Siri experiences with App Schemas")

Why is Apple's CEO pushing on AI?

Gurman's newsletter item says Ternus met Federighi behind closed doors in recent weeks and pushed him to accelerate Apple's AI road map and go beyond Siri improvements. Ternus became CEO on 1 September. Per Gizmodo's account of the report, he is frustrated by what he sees as reluctance to treat AI with the same urgency as competitors.

Image: Tessa Bury, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Federighi has a reputation as an AI skeptic, with concerns about the technology's "privacy, security, societal and employment implications", PYMNTS reports, citing Gurman. The newsletter argues that Apple can no longer wave away what Meta, Google, OpenAI and Anthropic are doing.

Image: Julian Schiavo, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The practical target is Siri. Gizmodo notes that iOS 27's Siri delivered much of what Apple promised in 2024, but it cannot carry out lengthy agentic tasks in the background. Gurman says Apple wants to make Siri AI more agentic, and Ternus called agentic capabilities "promising" on a recent earnings call. Gurman also writes that Mike Rockwell, vice president of Siri engineering, is still considering leaving next year.

For developers, that raises the value of the work Apple opened up this month: Siri AI's developer preview already lets any app describe its actions to the assistant. An agent that runs tasks by itself needs exactly those well-described actions.

What is the iOS 28 release date and what features are expected?

Apple has announced nothing. MacRumors expects a beta in June and a release in September next year, which is Apple's usual rhythm. Gurman did not name any iOS 28 features in this report.

Earlier reporting gives a little more shape. In May, MacRumors relayed Gurman's view that the "28" releases were "shaping up to be far more significant" than the "27" updates. He gave the codenames Bell for iOS 28 and Poppy for macOS 28. MacRumors also says iOS 28 would be the first version on Apple's redesigned 20th-anniversary iPhone, expected next September. No supported-device list exists yet.

What to watch

• Stages two and three. The reporting describes only the first stage. Whether Apple keeps the 6+2 split later matters more for stability.
• Confirmation. Every detail here traces back to Gurman's anonymous sources. We could not read Bloomberg's newsletter directly, so its claims are attributed as relayed by MacRumors, Gizmodo and PYMNTS.
• WWDC 2027. June is when any of this becomes visible to developers.