Apple to focus on 'quality and underlying performance' with iOS 27 next year

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This past year, Apple overhauled its design language across all of its major software platforms with the introduction of Liquid Glass. That dramatic redesign, coupled with a number of jam-packed released over the past couple years, has resulted in many Apple users complaining about the overall quality of Apple software.

According to today’s Power On newsletter, Apple might finally be stepping back from new features, and instead focusing on underlying performance improvements. Let’s discuss.

iOS 27 to be a ‘Snow Leopard-style update’

Per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is taking a step back from launching any major new software features at WWDC26. This applies to iOS 27 and macOS 27, as well as all of the companies smaller platforms, like watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS.

For the first time since iOS 12, Apple will be focusing on software quality, rather than flashy new features:

Aiming to improve the software, 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. Like Snow Leopard set the groundwork for future overhauls and new types of Macs, iOS 27 will lay the foundation for foldable iPhones and other new hardware.

Apple won’t quite launch ‘zero new features’ like they claimed with OS X Snow Leopard back in 2009, however. According to Gurman, Apple still plans to release a number of new AI features with iOS 27, so the company doesn’t continue to fall behind in the AI race.

Currently, two major AI features are rumored for iOS 27: Apple’s new AI health agent – launching alongside a potential Apple Health+ subscription, as well as the companies first AI-powered web search feature.

These new features will shortly follow the launch of AI-infused Siri in iOS 26.4, which is largely anticipated to be powered by a special version of Google Gemini. Said custom version of Google Gemini will avoid sending data to Google’s servers, thanks to a custom-built model for Apple’s private cloud compute.

Wrap up

Outside of the heavy focus on software quality and other AI enhancements, Gurman also outlines three additional things to look out for with iOS 27:

Enhancements for enterprise users
‘Bespoke’ features for users in emerging markets
Design tweaks for Liquid Glass

Overall, iOS 27 is shaping up to be the one update that many Apple enthusiasts have wanted for many years: one that just focuses on polishing up the software.

It remains to be seen whether or not iOS 27 will truly feel as polished as iOS 12 or OS X Snow Leopard, but nonetheless, I’m really happy to see Apple is headed in this direction.

Does a renewed focus on stability in iOS 27 excite you? Let us know in the comments.

My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:

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