Apple recently released its latest iOS 17.1.1 to the general public with a fix for a severe issue on the iPhone alongside watchOS 10.1.1 and macOS Sonoma 14.1.1. It is now reported that Apple temporarily paused its work toward the upcoming iOS 18, watchOS 11, macOS 15, and tvOS 18 last week. The reason for halting work on the abovementioned updates is to focus on existing software updates.

Apple delays work on iOS 18, watchOS 11, and additional updates to fix issues in existing updates and to make it more stable

According to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, Apple has paused its work on iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, macOS 15, and tvOS 18 to focus on upcoming updates. iOS 17 was released with many bugs and issues, and the same goes for watchOS 10 and macOS Sonoma. Users have complained about various issues they have faced over the past month. While the company has fixed a few problems in its latest updates, it remains to be seen when it will improve the unaddressed bugs.

Gurman reports that Apple employees were delegated to pursue their efforts on Apple's more recent updates rather than next year's updates. The company wants its software engineers to resolve any possible bugs and flaws to enhance the performance of the latest operating systems. Apple's latest iOS 17.1.1 update fixed an issue where the iPhone faced wireless charging problems on BMW vehicles. Additionally, the company also fixed the Weather widget bug on the iPhone.

Apart from iOS 17, watchOS 10 also houses a handful of bugs. It was recently reported that a bug in watchOS 10 is causing battery drain issues on the Apple Watch. Apple has fixed the issue with the watchOS 10.1.1 release, but there could be additional bugs in the system for which Apple is pausing work on iOS 18, watchOS 11, and macOS 15 for next year.

Apple's Craig Frederighi has been working in the past to ensure that software performance remains optimal. However, with every major release, there are bound to be some bugs and issues. With iOS 17, the issues were quite prominent and made headlines after the launch of the iPhone 15 Pro models. It was reported that a bug in iOS 17 caused the devices to overheat. While Apple did release a fix for the underlying bug, additional issues surfaced to ruin the experience of the new iPhone models.

It makes sense for the company to stop working on next year's iOS 18 and additional updates and focus solely on existing updates. The company will potentially resume its efforts in the coming weeks or months as soon as the existing updates are stable and bug-free. Apple is also halting work on iOS 17.4, which is expected to arrive in March of next year. While the company is expected to launch iOS 18 on time, it remains to be seen if Apple's decision will impact the final release next year.