iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14 Released with These Exciting New Features

It almost got lost in the rest of the big news yesterday, but today is the day that Apple is releasing iOS 14 to the public — a surprise release that actually comes somewhat ahead of the company’s usual schedule.

In the past, Apple has generally held a big September event during which it’s announced its whole lineup of fall hardware, including new iPhones, new Apple Watches, and sometimes even new iPads. While preorders usually open up the same Friday, the actual in-store dates usually don’t come until the following week, giving Apple a few days to actually get its newest major software updates out to the public.

This year, however, everything is moving at a much faster pace. Not only did Apple announce that the newly-unveiled Apple Watch Series 6 will be in stores this Friday, but it barely waited 24 hours for iOS 14 and its other related software updates to be released to the public, without the usual advance “GM” version that’s normally given to developers (a GM version did appear late yesterday, but with such a short window this time around, it really is just an early release of the final version).

In fact, the release has been so rapid this year that, as MacRumors reports, it’s left many developers frustrated. Apple not only released the GM with less than 24 hours before the final release, but it also only notified developers yesterday that it was ready to begin accepting apps for the new iOS 14.