iOS 27 features: Did iOS 26 fail and can iOS 27 fix it?

Apple is expected to focus heavily on stability, performance fixes, and refined AI tools in the upcoming iOS 27 features revealed at WWDC 2026. Apple's iOS 26 introduced a bold naming shift to year-based versioning and the visually striking Liquid Glass design, but it drew backlash for delayed Apple Intelligence rollout, buggy AI summaries, battery drain, and sluggish performance. The iOS 27 release date is expected to be announced at WWDC 2026, followed by a public rollout alongside the iPhone 18 in September. At WWDC 2026, Apple is likely to position iOS 27 as a corrective update after the mixed reception of iOS 26. Apple iOS problems like AI bugs, battery drain, and sluggish performance triggered widespread criticism after iOS 26. Apple is expected to ship iOS 27 as the default iPhone 18 software in India and global markets. Having iOS 27 to be announced at the WWDC 2026 and iPhone 18 to be released in September, Apple hopes to achieve a redemption through stability-oriented improvements and specific AI-enhancements.

iOS 27 features:Snow leopard-style stability push

iOS 27 calls back to the 2009 Snow Leopard playbook of Mac OS X, with a focus on cleaning up code, fixing bugs, and efficiency rather than flashy redesigns- fixing the overheating, UI glitches, and inconsistent AI of iOS 26.  iOS 27 stability improvements will prioritise fixing overheating, UI lag, battery drain, and inconsistent performance across iPhones. The quality control model of this solution would enable Apple to polish the Liquid Glass interface but push the AI features to the limit without alienating users.

Photos app update iOS: Smarter photos app collections at WWDC 2026

At WWDC 2026, Apple is likely to position iOS 27 as a corrective update after the mixed reception of iOS 26. The Photos app update in iOS 27 focuses on smarter collections, cleaner shared albums, and improved search. As the single Photos revamp of iOS 26, iOS 27 adds polished "improved collections" which sort the media into themes such as trips, people and last days with smarter algorithms. Look forward to cleaner shared albums, collaboration libraries that are more modern, and an improved search experience to make the application feel more approachable to typical users of the huge photo libraries.

Streamlined AirPods pairing

This iOS update for iPhone users focuses less on flashy design and more on reliability and everyday usability. The new AirPods pairing system will offer faster and more dependable connections and improved device handoffs and recognition throughout the ecosystem. Installed hints of under-the-hood tweaks to make everything run smoothly, which may be associated with camera remote gestures and Live Listen extensions via Apple Watch.

Apple Intelligence update: AI-Powered world knowledge answers

The Apple Intelligence update in iOS 27 is expected to fix buggy AI summaries and delayed features that frustrated users in iOS 26. With the Siri AI upgrade, Apple plans to turn Siri into a contextual answer engine powered by large language models. This multimodal search which combines web data, images, videos, and personal context, codenamed World Knowledge Answers, is an LLM-powered search that replaces Google and Perplexity directly by being integrated into Siri, Safari, and Spotlight. This is driven in part by cooperative work with Google, turning Siri into a kind of answer engine with contextual awareness years in the making it was promised, but not yet delivered in iOS 26.

AI health coach Apple: Project Mulberry

The AI health coach Apple is developing under Project Mulberry could turn the Health app into a proactive wellness assistant. The Health app is revamped in the Project Mulberry iOS 27, Health+, an AI agent appearing as an artificial doctor, reviewing medications and health data regarding iPhone, Watch, AirPods, and other third-party devices to provide customized coaching on sleep, nutrition, and wellness. Being a prospective subscription, it can integrate insights across devices to provide proactive suggestions, but privacy and accuracy-related issues are looming.

Bonus foldable and Siri prep

iOS foldable support in iOS 27 is expected to bring split-screen multitasking and adaptive gestures for Apple’s first foldable iPhone. This iOS update for iPhone users focuses less on flashy design and more on reliability and everyday usability. The 2026 iPhone Fold is predicted to introduce iOS 27, which promises to introduce split-pane multitasking, adaptable gestures, and per-screen adjustments to foldables. Siri receives visual redesign and deeper Intelligence upgrades, and there are also additional whispers such as Calendar redesign and more Live Captions- which reflects a safe but promising future.

Apple is expected to ship iOS 27 as the default iPhone 18 software in India and global markets.The iOS 27 release date is expected to be announced at WWDC 2026, followed by a public rollout alongside the iPhone 18 in September. 

Disclaimer: The information regarding the gadgets/devices listed in the table and article has been sourced from various secondary sources. For detailed product specifications, please refer to the brand sources.