The Top New Features in Apple’s iOS 27 and iPadOS 27

While the news coming out of WWDC 2026 is not as dramatic as last year’s iOS 26 update, where the new Liquid Glass redesign caused a big stir, Apple’s presentation still made waves.

During the WWDC keynote, Apple walked through the new changes coming to the next version of its mobile operating systems, iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. These updates will roll out to iPhones and iPads later this year, likely in September.

iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 focus largely on stability improvements that enrich the everyday usability of the operating systems. There are several smaller quality-of-life improvements, but the big highlight is the Siri AI upgrades. Here’s everything you need to know.

Top New iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 Features

Here’s a topline view of some of the biggest changes coming to iOS and iPadOS 27. The updates are largely the same across both operating systems.

Siri AI and a New Siri App

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Siri is finally becoming “a more capable assistant,” or so that’s the claim. Apple says this is largely thanks to its third-generation foundation models, which were developed from the ground-up with the help of Google’s Gemini models. However, Apple says it is not using Google’s infrastructure, and that there no user data from Siri actions gets shared with Google.

Siri AI has an all-new look when you activate the assistant. It now resembles a glass orb. You can type or talk naturally to Siri, and there’s even a dedicated app where you can revisit previous conversations, or pick up where you left off on a different device. Siri is also now in the camera app, giving you a more direct way to start a visual search, much like Google Lens. You can even point the camera at a restaurant bill and Siri can split the tab.

The assistant understands your personal context, so it can comb through your emails, messages, photos to find relevant information based on your query. It can then take action on your behalf, whether that’s to draft an email in a specific tone, or get wine recommendations for a particular dish. Siri’s voice is more expressive, but you can also customize the assistant’s voice and adjust its expressiveness and pace.

Platform Stability Improvements

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One of the most appreciated features will be Apple’s improvements in making iOS run faster. The company says app launches are up to 30 percent faster, newly captured photos in your Photo Library load up to 70 percent faster, and AirDrop transfers are up to 80 percent faster. The iPhone will even do a better job of switching between Wi-Fi and cellular, so you hopefully won’t have that awkward minute with no service as you wait for your device to switch networks while leaving the house. Many of these upgrades will affect older iPhone models, like the iPhone 11, thanks to a better-optimized CPU Scheduler.

Liquid Glass Refinements

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Hate Liquid Glass? Love Liquid Glass? Well, you have some options to make it work for your tastes in iOS 27. Apple says it has generally updated the design language to improve readability and contrast. App icons are sharper, for example. But you now finally have a slider in the Settings menu that lets you adjust the intensity of the Liquid Glass look, from super clear to more opaque. You can customize this in Settings > Appearance > Liquid Glass.

Child Safety Features

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Apple spent a lot of time in the WWDC keynote talking up child safety features in iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. There’s a new Setup Assistant parents can run through when first setting up an Apple device for a child, which includes choosing what system apps are available to the child and other essential apps. An “Ask to Browse” feature sees that any new websites the kids encounter in Safari get sent to a parent for approval, and a feature called Communication Safety prevents children from seeing nudity or violence in the Messages or FaceTime apps; those are blurred by default.