Apple's iOS 27 may bring minor changes, improved battery life: Report

Instead of major design overhauls, iOS 27 may focus on stability upgrades, app optimisation, and improved battery life through subtle enhancements

Apple’s next-generation operating system update for iPhones, iOS 27, might focus on performance improvements and stability rather than introducing something entirely new like iOS 26 did with the Liquid Glass interface. According to a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, with iOS 27, Apple is aiming to “tidy” its codebase, upgrade older apps, and tweak Liquid Glass, due to which the battery life of iPhones may improve.

 

As per the report, the company plans to achieve this by removing scraps of old code, making minor interface tweaks without introducing major changes, and subtly upgrading older apps to help them perform more efficiently.

 

Why is this needed

In the report, Gurman characterises iOS as somewhat disorganised behind the scenes. He added that users of Apple’s software in recent years may have observed more frequent bugs, occasional slowdowns, and inconsistent battery performance. Given that software stability was once a defining strength for Apple, this perceived decline has reportedly drawn criticism.

 

Gurman adds that alongside broader code clean-up efforts, Apple engineers are aiming to improve power efficiency. The expectation is that streamlining underlying code could deliver battery gains.

Revamped Siri on horizon

In related news, Apple has reportedly clarified that the revamped Siri is not delayed and remains on track for release in 2026, countering claims that the upgrade had been pushed back. While earlier reports suggested the improved AI assistant would debut with iOS 26.4, a subsequent Bloomberg report indicated the rollout target had shifted internally to later updates, such as iOS 26.5 or even iOS 27. Apple confirmed to CNBC that the more advanced Siri will launch this year, though it has not tied the release to any specific iOS 26 version, suggesting the features could arrive in a later update cycle or as a preview rollout.