it would not have been finalised between us getting B7 & B8. They won’t have any newer build of B8, as once they decide a build is a GM candidate, they then shift to iOS 14.1 or 14.0.1. Maybe someone will find the compile code for B8, but if the previous final builds before GM are anything to go by, it will have been a build from within the last week.
It’s highly unlikely that they can get all the release stock loaded with the new OS in 2 and half weeks.
The 12 days is the time for us. 12 for us is more like 3 weeks if you account for Apple’s internal finalisation.
Also, seems like people are forgetting that COVID will affect the production line and shipping too.
With all due respect, neither of us know when Apple "needs" to finalize any build of iOS by. Each version of software and year is different, so while there are trends, unless you have a leaked internal document showing Apple "must" adhere to some timing interval between builds, I don't think it's fair to suggest otherwise.
We do know that they internally have builds that are at least some days, weeks or months newer than what the public has (by public, I mean developers, not public release). Seeing as we received Beta 7 last week and Beta 8 today, Apple
must have internally finalized Beta 8 before today when it was released to the public, meaning my statement of Beta 8 being internally finalized between the public release of Beta 7 and Beta 8 is true. Even if Beta 8 was compiled within the last week, that doesn't mean it couldn't have been compiled a week ago, which is what I was suggesting. Maybe we're misunderstanding each other.
If you do the math timing, I think it actually makes sense. If Beta 8, which will basically serve as the GM minus the logging files and "a" on the build, was internally finalized at least a week ago, then Apple already has had one week of production of the new hardware. Seeing as they won't actually ship before 9/23, that means they'll have 3 weeks in total to load the new OS onto hardware. You should keep in mind that the main components are already manufactured and good to go, it's just a matter of putting them together in the 3 weeks leading up to the release date. Additionally, it's not like Apple has 10 million iPads ready for customers on release day. We usually see a few hundred thousand on release day and maybe a few million within the first week. Apple is a supply chain genius and has had this process nailed down for over 10 years now.
