The next generation version ofApple's mobile operating system will reportedly see a massive overhaul of its user interface.
Sir Jonathan Ive, the design guru behind many of the company's iconic products, is claimed by a reputable Apple blogger to have overhauled the platform to create a new, stripped-back OS.
And blogger John Gruber claims that Ive's thoroughness has caused a big delay to the computer giant's planned launch date for iOS 7.
Writing on Branch, Gruber said: "What I've heard: iOS 7 is running behind and engineers have been pulled from [Mac operating system] OS X 10.9 to work on it."
He also mentioned a "rather significant system-wide UI overhaul", which Apple is apparently taking steps to hide from prying eyes.
Apple was recently [uuid=ea08a5f2-1909-4fdb-b7bb-33d3355ce406]refused a patent for the iPad Mini[/uuid] in the US.