Apple iPhone 7 Release Date, News & Updates: Rumors Suggest That Apple's Next-Gen Phone Could Be Delayed By FBI's Case Request

Customers and fans of Apple's iPhones waiting for the upcoming iPhone 7 model are worried that the FBI's request to the company might delay the launch of the next generation mobile device.

The high-tech giant Apple responded one more time to the FBI's request in the San Bernardino shooters case. This time Apple's legal team filed a formal response to the FBI's request. In its defense brief the company invokes the First and Fifth Amendments.

Such custom-built software for the FBI might also delay Apple's product launch plans for the rest of the year. Any delays in development for iOS 10 could in consequence lead to a postponed launch date for the upcoming iPhone 7, according to BGR.

Apple reveals that creating GovtOS for the FBI would require between six and ten employees to design, validate and deploy the application. According to Apple's manager of user privacy Erik Neuenschwander, the GovtOS software would need to go through the same steps any iOS creation goes through.

In addition to Neuenschwander, the list of employees needed for the development of GovtOS would include a project manager, a quality assurance engineer, at least two engineers from Apple's core operating system group, and either a document writer or a tool writer.

The time required to finish the creation of the GovtOS would be, according to Apple, between two and four weeks. The software would also need proper testing after being finalized. If bugs would be found in the first version of the code, which is very likely, the engineers would need additional time for fixes.

Since such an undertaking would require experienced veteran iOS developers who would take time off developing iOS 10, this could lead to delays in launching of iOS 10. The iPhone 7 could miss a September launch date if the iOS 10 isn't done in time, according to ValueWalk.