For iOS 27, Apple reportedly has its priorities clear: deep AI integration and an under-the-hood cleanup for better performance and battery life.
While iOS 26 was all about Liquid Glass design, it also came with a noticeable performance hit, especially on older iPhones. With iOS 27, Apple appears ready to make amends.
iOS 27 may clean up iOS 26’s performance mess
Every few years, Apple uses a major OS release to focus less on flashy new features and more on performance improvements and refinement. Mac OS X Snow Leopard, released in 2009, started this trend. It prioritized stability, speed and optimization over new features.
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, in the newest edition of his Power On newsletter, says Apple will adopt a similar strategy for iOS 27 this year. According to him, the company will focus on cleaning up the operating system, “removing scraps of old code, rewriting features and subtly upgrading apps to let them perform better.”
These under-the-hood changes should make the OS feel lighter and more responsive. Gurman also notes that some UI tweaks are expected, likely aimed at addressing the performance issues introduced with Liquid Glass in iOS 26.
As part of these foundational improvements, his sources say iOS 27 could also deliver better battery life.
Apple last made a major push to improve iPhone performance and battery efficiency with iOS 12, which released in 2018.
iOS 27 will lean heavily into AI
Beyond a system-wide cleanup, Apple will reportedly focus on delivering a more cohesive AI experience in iOS 27. That effort could include deeper AI integration across the operating system and a more conversational, chatbot-style Siri.
Apple has faced delays and criticism over the rollout of its AI features, raising questions about whether it can catch up to rivals. iOS 27 may be its biggest opportunity yet to reset expectations and prove it can compete more aggressively in the AI race.
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
