iOS 7 beta 4 could drop today, but don't hold your breath

Developers and tinkerers looking to upgrade their iOS devices to the latest iOS 7 beta version might get lucky today, but it’s probably best to keep your expectations low. iOS 7 beta 4 was expected last Monday, but thanks to attacks on Apple’s developer site, that entire portion of Apple’s website (including links to beta downloads) was pulled offline and it’s still not all the way back yet.

In fact, a system status check shows that more sections of the site are offline than online. While the iOS, Mac and Safari Dev Centers are back online and the Certificates, Identifiers and Profiles section purports to be, Technical Support is still missing as is the Member Center and Program Enrollment and Renewals.

The last one especially hurts, because it’s the section that determines whether or not you’re enrolled in the development program. If you’re not recognized as a paying developer, you’re granted access to the iOS 6 SDK, but not to any of the iOS 7 betas. Kind of a bummer.

Unless Apple can get a bunch of these sections online today and is able to release the next version of its iOS 7 beta, I’m not going to personally expect it until next Monday, August 5. And while there has been some speculation on what Apple will call the next version of the beta, the fact that no developers outside of Apple had access to iOS 7 beta 4 leads me to believe that it’ll just keep that same name to avoid confusion.

Should iOS 7 beta 4 start seeding out today or in the near future, we’ll have that story for you, and we’ll also cover any new additions to the software. In the meantime, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the situation. If you’re an Apple developer, has the site’s downtime impacted your work at all? Leave us a comment below.