Apple has announced that the newest version of its mobile operating system will be released on October 12.

Apple first discussed iOS 5 in depth at WWDC 2011 (read our coverage here), and the features discussed there still constitute the bulk of iOS 5. Most prominent among them: a new less disruptive notifications system and the Notification Center, PC-free capabilities for syncing with iTunes and performing software updates, iCloud sync and backup capability, and a new iMessage protocol that allows for free SMS-style messaging between all iOS 5 devices.

In addition to the new iPhone, iOS 5 is supported on all current iOS devices: the iPhone 3GS, the AT&T and Verizon iPhone 4, the iPad and iPad 2, and the third and fourth-generation iPod Touch. You should expect a full review from us soon.
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  • webmastir - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link

    thx for not titling this "revolutionary" or anything like that
  • erple2 - Sunday, October 9, 2011 - link

    Within the small, confined space of iOS devices, this is a revolutionary update. Unfortunately, the rest of the world has passed over iOS in feature capabilities, marking this release as more or less a simple update to bring iOS up to par with non-iOS existing markets.
  • ltcommanderdata - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link

    Hopefully you'll run a full set of performance benchmarks. It'd be interesting to see if there are new GPU drivers that improve performance.

    It would also be informative if you included previous iOS versions to see how performance has changed overtime. This is especially important to make sure the iPhone 3GS in iOS 5.0 doesn't see the same performance regressions that the iPhone 3G saw in iOS 4.0. Results from the iPhone 3GS in Safari and GLBenchmark 2.1 for iOS 3.1.3, 4.3.5, and 5.0 would do it.
  • gevorg - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link

    Here we go, another horde of Apple "updates" on Anandtech.
  • icrf - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link

    Agreed. If I wanted instantaneous information, I'd follow one of the many liveblogs going on out there. But I don't. I'd rather have a single post or two that summarizes the event, maybe even with a little commentary. Not everyone is geared to consume information in 140 character chunks. Cater to me! :)
  • Andrew.a.cunningham - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link

    We'll be posting full in-depth reviews at or near launch, I hope. :-)
  • icrf - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link

    I was just wondering if this could be covered in one post about Apple's event instead of five posts for each bullet point as it trickled out. It's all newsworthy and belongs here, just hoping for some consolidation.
  • Andrew.a.cunningham - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link

    Definitely think I'll consider doing that next time - doing it this way was more stressful than it needed to be and didn't really net much benefit for you guys. We're still trying to figure out what works best in Pipeline and what works best elsewhere.
  • Andrew.a.cunningham - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link

    We'll stop covering it when people stop being interested. It's a major OS release - take your trolling elsewhere.
  • Andrew.a.cunningham - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link

    Gah, sorry, I keep forgetting how new Pipeline is.

    Pipeline is *for* little updates with a minimum of commentary - it's our way to get Straight Facts out to you guys as quickly as possible without snark or editorializing that you can find elsewhere. You'll note that "every fart" Microsoft makes about Windows 8 is usually also covered, as well as many other minor announcements.

    Obviously, our standard in-depth reviews will show up in the main feed as soon as we can post them, and I believe that reviews of both iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S are in the pipe. Your patience will be rewarded!

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