Apple iOS 27 to Be No-Frills 'Snow Leopard' Update, Other Than New AI (bloomberg.com)

(Monday November 24, 2025 @11:41AM (msmash) from the less-is-more dept.)

Apple's next major iPhone software update will prioritize stability and performance over flashy new features, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who reports that iOS 27 is being [1]developed as a "Snow Leopard-style" release

[2]non-paywalled source

focused on fixing bugs, removing bloat and improving underlying code after this year's sweeping Liquid Glass design overhaul in iOS 26.

Engineering teams are currently combing through Apple's operating systems to eliminate unnecessary code and address quality issues that users have reported since iOS 26's September release. Those complaints include device overheating, unexplained battery drain, user interface glitches, keyboard failures, cellular connectivity problems, app crashes, and sluggish animations.

iOS 27 won't be feature-free. Apple plans several AI additions: a health-focused AI agent tied to a Health+ subscription, expanded AI-powered web search meant to compete with ChatGPT and Perplexity, and deeper AI integration across apps. The company has also been internally testing a chatbot app called Veritas as a proving ground for its re-architected Siri, though a standalone chatbot product isn't currently planned.

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-11-23/apple-ios-27-snow-leopard-like-quality-focus-ai-features-tim-cook-retirement-mibq7jv8

[2] https://www.macrumors.com/2025/11/23/ios-27-two-key-upgrades/

Creating artificial problems to later fix them... (Score:2)

by Quakeulf ( 2650167 )

This could all have been avoided by treating programming like physics, with emphasis on thermodynamics.

Proof ... (Score:2)

by pahles ( 701275 )

... that iOS 26 was not ready when it was released.

Correction (Score:4, Insightful)

by Sebby ( 238625 )

> after this year's sweeping Liquid Glass design overhaul in iOS 26

"after this year's pointless solution-looking-for-a-problem Liquid Glass redesign overhaul in iOS 26", or...

"after this year's Liquid Glass redesign solution for a problem no one ever fucking had"

There FTFY.

Only OS 26 issues?!? Only iOS?!???! (Score:2)

by Sebby ( 238625 )

> Engineering teams are currently combing through Apple's operating systems to eliminate unnecessary code and address quality issues that users have reported since iOS 26's September release

That's all they're looking at? Holy fuck they need to go way the fuck back to find all existing underlying performance issues; most of them aren't that new.

... Other than some crap that's going to break it (Score:3)

by dmay34 ( 6770232 )

Dear OS software engineering people.

AI isn't ready for primetime at the OS level yet. Please stop.

Fire Alan Dye (Score:2)

by Dixie_Flatline ( 5077 )

Look, it's not just that iOS 26 has bugs. Bugs are fine. All software has bugs.

But iOS 26 is incoherent. It makes the system less intuitive and harder to use. It reneges on design principles laid down in Apple's Human Interface guidelines. I don't even mind how flashy it is--the glass effect really IS cool sometimes. But touch targets are worse, information bleed-through is confusing, and it does the EXACT OPPOSITE of the claimed design intention to show you more of your content. The UI is bigger and more i

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