Apple is slowing down on flashy new iOS features and focusing on improving everything that’s already out, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports.
This year’s WWDC signaled a major shift across Apple’s software lineup. Alongside new features, the company introduced the Liquid Glass interface with floating, translucent navigation bars and changed the naming to reflect release years instead of version numbers, similar to how carmakers go about their models.
While the refreshed design became a major talking point at launch in September, several users complained about bugs, quick battery drains, and other issues soon after. Some are still complaining about issues such as keyboard inaccuracies.
Since it was an intensive software revision, Apple’s engineering and software teams are now “hunting for bloat to cut, bugs to eliminate, and any opportunity to meaningfully boost performance and overall quality,” Gurman writes in the latest edition of his weekly newsletter.
This means, instead of working on sweeping new features for iOS 27, Apple may be focusing on fixing iOS 26’s underlying performance and quality issues, much like it did with the Snow Leopard update for Macs in 2009, Gurman adds.
However, that won’t leave iOS 27 as a “no new features” update like the Mac software. There will still be a few additions, and most of them will revolve around AI so that the company doesn’t fall further behind in this segment, Gurman notes.
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Notably, Apple has yet to release several AI features it announced at WWDC 24. The company has said they will arrive in 2026, and rumors suggest they could finally roll out with iOS 26.4.
Apple’s also rumored to be working on integrating Google Gemini into Apple Intelligence and Siri, while also infusing AI into some of its other apps. It is also rumored to be working on an AI-powered search tool that could rival both ChatGPT, its current AI partner for Apple Intelligence, and Perplexity.
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Jibin is a tech news writer based out of Ahmedabad, India. Previously, he served as the editor of iGeeksBlog and is a self-proclaimed tech enthusiast who loves breaking down complex information for a broader audience.
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