Apple released iOS 27.1 on Thursday, but most iPhone owners won’t be able to install it. The update is specifically for the foldable iPhone Duo, which went on sale on Friday.
But don’t feel frustrated: iOS 27.2 is expected as early as Monday.
Apple seeded the iOS 27.2 Release Candidate to beta testers on Monday, signaling that eager iPhone users should circle October 26 on their calendars. The update improves Group FaceTime calls, adds more languages to Siri AI and more.
The macOS Golden Gate 27.2 Release Candidate was also released, as have equivalents for iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV and more.
Apple released iOS 27.0.1 on Monday, a patch that fixes several bugs discovered after the company’s major iOS 27 update arrived earlier this month.
Several of these bugs made headlines, including one that could freeze the screen on any iPhone with merely a couple of finger swipes. So the update is recommended for all users.
Bug patches for macOS, iPadOS and watchOS also arrived Monday.
iPadOS 27 is out, and maybe you’re looking for a reason to install it. Or you might have already installed it and want to know more about it. I’m here to help.
Apple hypes the AI capabilities, but the most popular iPad model doesn’t support Apple Intelligence. And maybe AI isn’t your thing.
Good news: iPadOS 27 brings a long list of non-AI changes that affect everyday iPad use. Some are visual refinements while others improve performance, stability, file transfers, Safari, Mail, Messages and more.
Here are the best new iPadOS 27 features that aren’t AI.
Apple seeded the first iOS 27.2 beta to developers on Wednesday, giving them the chance to test several notable changes and improvements.
The company is skipping beta testing iOS 27.1, an unusual move but one with a good “Duo” reason behind it. Below is a rundown of all the new stuff in iOS 27.2 beta 1. (We will update the post as we discover more.)
Your iPhone’s next big software update just arrived. Apple released iOS 27 on Monday, fixing many of the annoyances that iOS 26 inadvertently introduced last year, while also tweaking Liquid Glass to improve readability.
Alongside iOS 27, Siri AI also launches in beta today, finally bringing Apple’s AI assistant on par with Google, ChatGPT and others.
UPDATE: This article is now moot because the wait is over! iOS 27 is now out for everyone:
iOS 27, iPadOS 27, watchOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate are ready for public release. After previewing the updates at WWDC26 in June, Apple will release them on Monday, September 14.
But when exactly does iOS 27 land on your iPhone on September 14? Here’s when you can expect Apple’s latest updates to go live in your region. (Though you have the option to skip the wait and get iOS 27 now.)
UPDATE: This article is now moot because the wait is over! iOS 27 is now out for everyone:
After months of beta testing, Apple will release iOS 27, iPadOS 27, watchOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate to the public this month. And at its “Surprise and Shine” event, the company finally provided a release date.
The new operating systems will be released publicly in less than a week, on September 14.
Apple’s new support document explains how you can speed up Spotlight indexing on your device. It also goes into detail about how Spotlight indexing works.
Many iPhone, iPad and Mac users will face this indexing slowdown once Apple releases its next-generation operating systems next month.
After almost a month-long gap, Apple rolled out iOS 27 beta 5 to developers on Monday. With September fast approaching, the new beta adds the necessary polish before the OS’s public release this fall.
Below are all the changes spotted in iOS 27 beta 5 so far, including the (possible) name of the first folding iPhone.
iPadOS 27 continues Apple’s commitment to improving the iPad’s software. This time, another feature from macOS finds its way to Apple’s tablets, making them easier to use. And I love it.
Last year, Apple brought the macOS menu bar over to iPad. This year, iPadOS 27 makes it genuinely useful. It’s changed the way I use my iPad.
Apple Intelligence-powered features in Apple’s Home app will require a 2TB iCloud+ plan, according to a footnote in macOS 27 developer beta 3. As part of the upgrade, the Home app uses AI to generate summaries of motion alerts from compatible HomeKit Secure Video cameras.
In the United States, the required 2TB iCloud+ plan costs $10 per month. Alternatively, it is a part of the Apple One Premier bundle, which costs $37.95 per month.
You can get the new Siri AI right now on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. All you have to do is update to the iOS 27 developer beta release.
You’ll get access to the smarter, conversational and agentic Siri. It really does seem to be everything Apple promised.
You’ll also get the other Apple Intelligence features: generating Shortcuts and Safari extensions, extensive photo editing tools, realistic generation in Image Playground, systemwide proofreading and much more.
Be warned — to get the hottest feature, Siri AI, there’s another waitlist. You should hop on as early as you can. You might even be able to skip the long wait time — there’s an unconfirmed method people are trying out. Here’s how.
Forget what you know about Apple’s Image Playground — the app is no longer terrible. There’s a new version on the way, and it finally fulfills the promise Apple made two years ago.
Later this year, your iPhone is getting an AI tool that’s truly capable of generating images based on your descriptions. And the software can avoid many of the usual problems that cause some people to reject artificial intelligence tools.
Apple spent the majority of WWDC26’s opening keynote talking about Siri AI, Apple Intelligence upgrades, Liquid Glass refinements and performance enhancements. But iOS 27 packs much more than that. There are several smaller changes that Apple did not talk about onstage.
Here are some of the best hidden iOS 27 features you might have missed.
iOS 27 is coming to iPhone 11 and all models released after that. And while it sounds impressive that Apple’s new operating systems will support devices released in 2019, it does not mean that your old iPhone will get every new iOS 27 feature. In fact, even the iPhone 17 will not get the full suite of AI features in iOS 27.
The same holds true for iPadOS 27 and macOS 27. Many of the headline features require newer hardware, meaning some compatible iPads and Macs will miss out on parts of the update.
Apple’s new Siri AI chatbot might know when you’ve been bending its ear — and encourage you to take a break. A hidden piece of code in iOS 27 reveals that Siri AI could remind you to chill out if a conversation runs too long.
It’s a small detail, but it suggests Apple is clearly thinking about what happens when you don’t stop talking to Siri.
The Reframe and Extend tools Apple added to the Photos app in iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 are excellent examples of how AI can be used to improve our lives. With these AI-powered editing options, a picture that’s almost amazing can be noticeably improved.
Plus, they don’t have the drawbacks of artificial intelligence that make so many people uncomfortable.
Refinements to Apple’s divisive Liquid Glass user interface in iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 address many of the quirks that made some people despise the glossy new UI over the past year.
Apple straightforwardly addressed users’ concerns during Monday’s WWDC26 keynote. And Shubham Kedia, Apple’s human interface design director, said Apple updated “the foundations of how Liquid Glass is built” for this year’s new operating systems.
“Last year, we introduced our most ambitious cross-platform design update ever with Liquid Glass, which made apps and experiences even more expressive and delightful,” said Kedia. “Like with all major design updates, there’s a natural process where we take a bold leap forward and then we continue to iterate.”
Will the changes to Liquid Glass satisfy users who dislike the current state of affairs? The first developer betas are out, and early reactions seem mostly positive. Here are the biggest changes coming to Apple’s design language this year.
At the WWDC26 keynote, Apple announced the next versions of all its operating systems with a swath of AI features. There are tweaks to the Liquid Glass design, a wide array of tiny quality-of-life and performance improvements, draconian parental controls and limits, and AI in every corner of the operating system.
It was an unusual WWDC keynote that disposed of the typical platform-by-platform format, and a relatively brisk runtime. But if you don’t have 76 minutes to spare, you can get the gist in just 90 seconds.
The first iOS 27 beta contains multiple references to Apple’s rumored foldable iPhone. Hidden within the operating system are strings and other code pointing to features designed specifically for a foldable device.
At this point, it’s no secret that Apple is working on a foldable iPhone. The company itself is now just indirectly confirming it.
With iOS 27, Apple finally brings independent volume controls for alarms and timers on the iPhone. This means adjusting your phone’s ringtone volume will no longer affect how loud your alarms, timers and other system sounds are.
It’s a small quality-of-life improvement, but one that iPhone users have been requesting for years.
Before Apple even started talking about new features, it devoted a significant chunk of Monday’s WWDC26 keynote to talking up improvements to performance and stability coming to all its operating systems this fall, including macOS 27, iOS 27 and iPadOS 27.
It’s surely welcome news to Apple users that their devices with run faster, with fewer bugs. And that’s includes a significant performance improvement especially for older iPhone models.
The headlining new feature of iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 — new Siri AI — will not come to the EU.
“We’re deeply disappointed that our EU users won’t have Siri AI on iPhone or iPad when we share our new software releases later this year,” said Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi.
While Siri got a complete redesign to include a dedicated chatbot app, on-screen awareness and deeper integration with third-party tools, that’s not the only AI upgrade cited by Apple in Monday’s WWDC26 keynote. A bunch of new Apple Intelligence features are set to upgrade your life, too.
“Truly helpful AI must be centered on our users’ needs, deeply integrated into the products they rely on every day, grounded in personal context, and built with privacy at every step. That is our vision for Apple Intelligence,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering.
“With useful features for browsing the web, expressing creativity, editing photos and so much more, today marks a big step forward on our journey to integrate powerful AI into the core of our platforms and make our products even more personal and useful,” he added.
The new features will become available with the release of iOS 27 and other OS updates coming in September 2026.