After years of introducing major changes with its annual iOS releases, Apple may be altering its approach next time around, instead focusing on refinement over a bevy of flashy new features. According to Mark Gurman in this week’s Power On newsletter, for iOS 27, Apple is “focused on improving the software’s quality and underlying performance.” That, and beefing up its AI offerings.
On the heels of iOS 26, which brought the Liquid Glass design overhaul, and the trickle of underbaked AI features that have arrived since the rollout of Apple Intelligence last year, Apple is reportedly honing in to improve the experience. Gurman writes that “engineering teams are now combing through Apple’s operating systems, hunting for bloat to cut, bugs to eliminate, and any opportunity to meaningfully boost performance and overall quality.” Gurman compares the strategy to 2009’s Snow Leopard release for Mac, which focused on bug fixes, decluttering and efficiency.
Catching up on AI is a major priority as well, the report notes. The company is working on an AI web search tool and an Apple Intelligence overhaul, alongside plans to integrate its AI into more apps. We still have yet to see the smarter, more personal AI-powered Siri the company has been talking about since 2024, but that’s expected to arrive before iOS 27 — possibly with iOS 26.4 this coming spring, according to Gurman.
