Slight iPad Shipping Delay Due to Software, Not Hardware?
Daring Fireball's John Gruber
claims to have heard from his sources that the slight shipping delay (about a week in the U.S. and on the order of a month in the first batch of international markets) for the Wi-Fi iPad is due not to hardware production issues but to Apple putting the final touches on the software for the device.
It was the software, not the hardware, that took a week or two longer to finish than they'd hoped. Nothing extraordinary or unusual, just the usual hard-to-predict timing of turning software that's almost ready to ship into software that's ready to ship. In the grand history of major OS release date slips, one week is pretty tame.
A report early this week indicated that a "manufacturing bottleneck" would be responsible for limited iPad quantities at launch and possibly a delay of the entire launch. Another analyst claim yesterday offered similar information, but noted that the issues were not related to "glass or manufacturing process". If Gruber's sources are correct and the delays were simply due to software, Apple should be able to quickly deploy the final software version to units in production and rapidly fill its sales channels for launch.
Popular Stories
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking!
Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27.
During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14.
iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update.
Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries.
In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....
