Note: Apple World Today is still in “holiday mode” today, but we’ll have occasional updates throughout the day.
iOS 10.3 is apparently on the way, at least in a beta version that could be made available to developers as soon as January 10, 2017. At this point, the latest official version of Apple’s mobile operating system is 10.2, with 10.2.1 currently in developer and public beta.
Not much is known about what new features will come with iOS 10.3. It’s possible that the new version could be equipped with improved Apple Pencil support for new iPads expected in March or April, although early beta versions probably won’t provide clues of that support until test hardware is available.
Australian Sonny Dickson, who occasionally comes out with some interesting rumors, posted this note on Twitter on December 30, 2016 along with the rumor that iOS 10.3 beta 1 would drop on January 10th:
iOS 10.3 to feature a new Theatre mode – will include a new popcorn-shaped Control Center icon.
— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) December 30, 2016
“Theatre Mode” is rumored to be a new Control Center button allowing one-tap dimming of an iPhone screen as well as placing a device into “Do Not Disturb” and silent modes. As the name suggests, this would make iPhones running in the new mode a lot less annoying during movies and concerts.
