Website visits from devices running the unannounced iOS 7 have seen a significant increase in recent weeks, as Apple gears up for the mobile operating system's official unveiling at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Traffic from devices running iOS 7 has spiked since April 29.
Traffic from devices running iOS 7 tracked by AppleInsider has spiked over the last week, server logs show. While the number of iOS 7 devices was relatively flat through April 29, appearances of the operating system grew significantly on April 30, and have persisted ever since.
A similar increase has also been seen by tablet optimization company Onswipe, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. iPhones and iPads running iOS 7 seen online have IP addresses that can be traced to Cupertino, Calif., and San Francisco.
Apple has already publicly revealed that it plans to show off the next major update to iOS at WWDC, which will run from June 10 through 14 in San Francisco. Also promised to be showcased is OS X 10.9, Apple's next Mac operating system upgrade.
"We can’t wait to get new versions of iOS and OS X into (developers') hands at WWDC," Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said in a press release last month.
Recent reports have claimed Apple is hard at work on the next version of iOS, and may have even seen some internal delays due to major changes to the operating system. As a result, it's rumored that Apple has reallocated some of its engineers from other teams to accelerate work on iOS 7.
Despite the "dramatic changes" that are said to be in the works, iOS 7 is still expected to release on time without holding up the launch of Apple's next iPhone. iOS 7 will mark the first major release under the direction of Human Interface team lead Jony Ive.
Apple's iOS team saw a major shakeup late last year when Scott Forstall, the head of iOS development, was ousted from the company. Forstall's preference for so-called "skeuomorphic" design elements, or those that resemble real-life objects, has been a part of iOS for years, in the form of leather textures for the iPad Calendar app, and the look of a felt casino table in Game Center.
Ive's apparent dislike for skeuomorphic design has led to expectations that many of those elements will be removed from iOS 7, giving the platform a fresh look under its new regime.