Developers Report that Apple Begins Widespread Testing of iOS 5

The next major iteration of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS, is scheduled to be previewed at the WWDC conference this summer. We already heard that certain developers have seen their apps tested on the next version of iOS, and it now seems that more and more apps are getting the iOS 5 treatment.

iOS 5 is expected to deliver awesome new features and extensively tie into Apple’s rumored and upcoming cloud service. Is Apple already testing third party apps on this mysterious software?

9to5Mac thinks so. They’ve been receiving tips from develepors saying that their apps are being tested on iOS 5. According to the tips, the new OS is being tested on all iDevices (including the 3GS). This level of testing usually indicates that the next iOS version will be released in the coming months.

iOS 5 will most likely be released as a beta to develepors at WWDC this June. Perhaps iOS 5 will look something like the mysterious video that showed the white iPhone running an unrecognizable version of iOS.

It is unclear as to whether the software will officially launch alongside new hardware in the fall.

What do you think? Will iOS 5 ship independently from the next iPhone? Or will it be a packaged deal?