iOS 27 Set For Snow Leopard-Style Upgrade As Apple Shifts Focus To Quality And AI: Report

Apple is preparing its iOS 27 update with a dual focus on quality enhancements and expanded artificial intelligence features, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

“Apple’s next major iPhone software update — iOS 27 — will have two major elements: quality improvements and artificial intelligence features…After the sweeping design overhaul of iOS 26 and the debut of Liquid Glass across its platforms, Apple is working on a Snow Leopard-style update,” he wrote. 

The upcoming iOS 27 update signals a return to basics for Apple, reflecting Apple’s intent to refine its platforms after years of feature-heavy updates. This mirrors the philosophy behind the 2009 Snow Leopard release, which concentrated on system clean-up and performance improvements rather than major new features.

Despite launching on schedule, iOS 26 has drawn criticism from users reporting issues such as overheating, rapid battery depletion, glitches in the interface, keyboard malfunctions, connectivity disruptions, app crashes, and sluggish animations.

Apple is diving deep into its system architecture with iOS 27, focusing on code cleanup, bug elimination, and boosting performance. This refinement phase is viewed as essential groundwork for upcoming devices, such as the foldable iPhone.

While iOS 27 centres primarily on boosting core performance, it is also expected to introduce subtle tweaks to the interface unveiled in iOS 26. Early changes include new customisation settings for the lock screen clock’s glass styling and colour tint, with additional small-scale adjustments expected.

“On the AI side, more dramatic changes are brewing, including the long-awaited upgrade of the Siri voice assistant in iOS 26.4 and the weaving of artificial intelligence into additional apps in iOS 27. That includes a health-focused AI agent (tied to a Health+ subscription) next fall and an expansion of the AI-powered web search meant to rival both ChatGPT and Perplexity,” Gurman wrote.

Apple is internally testing a text-based chatbot dubbed Veritas, designed to support the redesigned Siri framework rather than acting as a consumer-facing app.

This AI development effort spans several teams, including those led by Sebastien Marineau, vice president of intelligent system experience, and Mike Rockwell, who oversees Siri's revamp. Additionally, Apple has entered a partnership with Google to incorporate Gemini AI capabilities into its Apple Foundation Models.