Indicates latest possible date for iOS 5 launch

The latest iOS beta expires on October 20th at just after 8PM Eastern time, notes iOS hacker iH8sn0w. Like many prereleases, and to prevent people from using outdated code indefinitely, iOS betas are set to expire automatically within a fixed timeframe. Why Apple would pick October 20th for the current beta isn't clear, and indeed the deadline could be somewhat arbitrary.

iOS 5 will go public sometime this fall, however, and new iPhones and iPods are generally expected to ship by mid-October if not earlier. The beta 7 expiry may therefore represent the latest possible date on which iOS 5 will launch. In practice Apple is likely to allow some overlap, and the firmware is far enough into development that it could go public sometime in September.

by MacNN Staff