Enlarge / The various color options of the iPhone 12. (credit: Apple )

This week, Apple has released a number of software updates to pave the way for tomorrow's iPhone 12 launch. Among them: iOS and iPadOS 14.1, and updates to iMovie and GarageBand for iOS.

iOS 14.1 adds support for the various new iPhone 12-specific features, plus a number of bug fixes. Most of the bug fixes fix UI bugs that shipped with iOS 14 last month. iPadOS 14.1 includes some of the same bug fixes.

Both updates are the second to come since iOS 14, after iOS and iPadOS 14.0.1. The update immediately prior to this one fixed a bug that caused users' default mail and browser apps to reset when a device was turned off or restarted. However, users have since found that their preferences are also being reset when App Store updates occur . iOS 14.1 does not address that issue.

An Apple engineer who helped launch the iPod said he helped the US government build a secret version of the device that could covertly collect data.

David Shayer, the second software engineer hired for the iPod project in 2001, said he first learned of the project in 2005, when he received an office visit from his boss’s boss.

“He cut to the chase,” Shayer recounts in a post published on Monday by TidBITS , an online newsletter covering all things Apple. “‘I have a special assignment for you. Your boss doesn’t know about it. You’ll help two engineers from the US Department of Energy build a special iPod. Report only to me.’”