By AppleInsider Staff

Published: 04:03 PM EST (01:03 PM PST)

Apple on Tuesday issued the golden master build of iOS 5, the next-generation operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, to members of its development community, along with a new build of Mac OS X 10.7.2 [updated].

People familiar with the latest build of iOS 5 said is known as 9A334. It is said to be labeled as a GM, or golden master, seed, which means that it is likely to be identical to the final version of the software Apple will release to the public.

Those people said there are a handful of fixes contained in the golden master build. For example, the GM build of iOS 5 reportedly fixes an issue that existed when deleting a song or video from the Music and Videos applications on an iOS device, causing it to crash.

Developers are also notified that starting with iOS 5, AirPlay is enabled by default for video content available on applications and websites. Those with access to the golden master have also been advised that the WebKit framework in the latest build more closely matches the engine used in Apple's Safari 5.1 desktop Web browser.

iOS 5 will be released to the public next Wednesday, Oct. 12. It will be compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, first-generation iPad, fourth-generation iPod touch, and third-generation iPod touch.

Update: Also released by Apple Wednesday was a new build of Mac OS X 10.7.2, known as Build 11C73. It is said to not contain any known issues. The forthcoming update to Lion will add support for iCloud.