I wouldn't be surprised if they're produced without software first. Then flashed and final tested a couple weeks before launch. Can't imagine they have the software ready months before launch when they first start production.
If I can find the article, I’ll post it, but I remember reading that the phones are boxed up in some quasi-limbo state waiting for commands, and they flash the entire lot via wifi all at once, inside the boxes.
It’s custom software that doesn’t exist outside of the factory and it’s gone when their flashed.
Flashing means installing the operating system / firmware on the blank drive of the device.What does it mean to flash?
It was released to the public then, but it was build internally mid August or so. They will be installing it on the phones from the last week of August. It’ll likely be the RC build, so the new devices are likely to need an update as part of setup on Friday, as we’ve seen happen at least once before.I've wondered the logistics of this too since the phones are already being shipped and the RC was just released last week.
I’ve heard the wireless flashing “rumor” before too, but not sure I believe it. It seems like that would require way too much bandwidth to update thousands of phones in bulk.
I think they do do it OTA, but I think it’s a process that still has to start 3 weeks before shipping from China, due to the amount of devices to get around the world.Not if they use multicast. This is at least used by companies to deploy windows on many computers at the same time.
Here's how microsoft explains it:
"Multicast is a network optimization method that you can use when multiple clients are likely to download the same OS image at the same time. When you use multicast, multiple computers simultaneously download the OS image as it's multicast by the distribution point. This behavior is instead of each client downloading a copy of the image over a separate connection from the distribution point."
I don’t know how they can flash millions of phones like thisI’ve heard the wireless flashing “rumor” before too, but not sure I believe it. It seems like that would require way too much bandwidth to update thousands of phones in bulk. It’d be slow and have a lot of wireless interference, not to mention having to sort through the boxes to pull out the ones that failed. Who knows, maybe Apple solved that problem. I would love to read up on this if it does exist.
I could only find this article that has been reposted a few times on the web. I think it makes more sense to flash them by cable. I mean, the batteries likely need to be charged too, so might as well just flash the phones while they are plugged in.
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How are Mobile Manufacturers Installing OS in Factory? - Android Infotech
Mobile Manufacturers Installing OS in our Mobiles, Machines are used to install these OS in a Bulk Way, Testing the OS and Hardware Parts.www.androidinfotech.com
If Apple does it similar to how Samsung does it, no wonder they aren’t in any hurry to update their equipment/lightning cables in order to switch the iPhone to USB-C…
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I think you might be right but don’t work for Apple so who knows with certainty though.You know Foxconn makes up to 500,000 phones a day. Its not going to be wifi. Just silly when you need to run hardware diagnostics / battery charging / screen burn in etc. They hook them up to a cable & install. Simple. A lot of the manufacturing process is manual - much more than you might imagine.