iOS 7 Beta 6 Reportedly Arriving Next Week As Last Build Before GM

It seems like the iOS 7 beta period is coming to a close. We've seen five betas already, each of which have come with improvements and new features, and it seems that Apple is happy enough to send out one more beta before shipping the Gold Master version to carriers and partners, which is expected to take place on September 5.BGR reports that its sources have provided a rough timeline for the final developer seeds of iOS 7, saying that the sixth beta should arrive at some point next week, which seems like a valid time period if taking in account Apple's release cycle with past iOS betas. This would put the beta 6 release around two weeks after the beta 5 release.

It's said that beta 6 is planned to be the final beta release before Apple finalizes iOS 7 with a golden master build. The near-final golden master is a version that gets sent off to internal groups and carrier partners, and it's expected to start shipping on September 5, with all developers receiving access on September 10, which is the rumored date for Apple's fall event.

Based on past Apple timelines, we could see the final version of iOS 7 release to the public on September 20 alongside the launch of the rumored iPhone 5S and other new iOS devices. Apple's developer portal has seen a lot of downtime lately, but it doesn't look like that will affect the release timeline of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks.

Specific details haven't been mentioned, such as what we'll see in beta 6, but we should be finding out next week. Obviously, the sixth beta should come with even more improvements this time around, including bugfixes and general performance improvements across the board.