Every year, at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple showcases the next versions of its operating systems. Last year, iOS 26 got a major UI overhaul with the Liquid Glass design system. It introduced flashy new elements and changed the physics of how everything on screen reacts to your touches or swipes. Though the whole transparent aesthetic is impressive in its own right, the rollout of iOS 26 was anything but smooth. The first few betas and stable builds were riddled with performance issues and bugs, and Apple ended up dialing down the intensity of Liquid Glass a lot.

So when Apple unveiled iOS 27 with very few feature additions, a lot of us enthusiasts were excited because this meant Apple probably took some time to iron out the buggy mess that iOS had become. iOS 27, therefore, is primarily a stability update, which Apple made clear in the keynote, citing several performance metrics. That said, the new version of the operating system does bring a handful of features that might interest you.

I’ve been using the first developer beta of iOS 27 on my iPhone since it was released earlier in June, and let’s just say that it addresses everything that was wrong with iOS 26 very well. Here’s a closer look at some of the best parts of iOS 27 and why they’re bigger improvements than you might think.

I feel Siri AI is a revolutionary update for the iPhone, not because it’s actually doing something other AI assistants like Gemini or Bixby aren’t, but because we’ve been stuck with such a lackluster version of it for ages. On recent versions of iOS, Siri has somehow been performing worse than it did a decade ago. After the catastrophic launch of Apple Intelligence, iPhone users spent two years using iOS 18 and iOS 26 without any good AI features and waiting for the overhauled Siri that Apple had promised. So it’s refreshing to see iOS 27 finally delivering on that front.

For those wondering — yes, Siri is exponentially smarter and more capable now. Perhaps we have Google’s Gemini models to thank for some of that. Siri AI is now better integrated with other Apple services you use, like Calendar, Notes, or Reminders. When you ask a question involving personal details, Siri now scans through your data across supported apps for better context. It’s also surprisingly quite snappy on my nearly three-year-old iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple mentioned in the keynote that iPhone 17 Pro and newer models would feature a more personalized and powerful version of Siri AI.

The new summon animation is pretty slick, too, especially for iPhones with a Dynamic Island. You can now swipe down from the top center to initiate a Siri AI query at any time. Support for third-party apps is still limited, and I hope Siri AI expands its reach over time.

My biggest complaint with Liquid Glass isn’t the visual overhaul — it is the fact that iOS 26 is slowing down iPhones — including modern ones that can somehow manage to run console-quality games just fine but constantly drop frames when swiping around on the Home Screen. Even stable builds of iOS 26.5 seem sluggish at times. We had been hearing rumors of iOS 27 being a stability update, and fortunately, it very much is just that. 

Apple claims that iOS 27 brings more than 40 performance improvements. Notable mentions include AirDrop transfers that are up to 80% faster than before, the Photos app loading new images much faster, and quicker boot-up times for many first-party apps like Safari. Despite this being the first developer beta I’m running, I can already see massive improvements in speed and stability with iOS 27 on my device.

A big reason why older iPhones will benefit from updating to iOS 27 is the new CPU scheduler that Apple added under the hood. A CPU scheduler is responsible for picking which task requires the most attention from the CPU. This keeps background activities active while ensuring the primary processes are being handled at maximum performance. Given how demanding the real-time physics and rendering of Liquid Glass are, a major performance update like this was really needed. This could also explain why iOS 27’s compatibility extends all the way back to the iPhone 11, which couldn’t be having a good time running iOS 26.

One aspect I’ve always admired is how well Apple handles privacy across its operating systems. There are also several security features that you can use on your iPhone. This year, Apple has focused primarily on further developing child safety features for iOS. Parents have been able to create and manage Child Accounts for a while now, and iOS 27 builds on these tools with deeper control and easier account management. Ask to Browse, which is enabled by default on iPhones with a Child Account, now requires the approval of a parent before a child can access a new website.

Communication Safety automatically blurs content involving violence or nudity in Messages or FaceTime video calls. Apple has advised third-party app developers to use the API to integrate this feature in their apps as well. Time Allowances is a new addition that lets parents limit their children’s screen time. It lets you create a shared time limit across all apps, but you can further customize the time your child is allowed to spend in specific categories of apps like entertainment, social media, and games.

Outside of child safety features, iOS 27 continues to offer some of the most feature-rich sets of privacy options. The new Siri will now be able to scan through video footage recorded by your security cameras and generate descriptions, making it easier for you to check on anything eventful. As before, processing that doesn’t happen locally on-device is handled by Private Cloud Compute.

The Liquid Glass design system is perhaps the most polarizing update to have landed on iOS in recent years. Some people loved it from the get-go, while others despised the terrible nightmare it was for readability and performance. It took Apple a couple of updates before it found a good balance between form and function, but this left both camps unhappy. The current state of Liquid Glass in iOS 26 is a compromise. It’s noticeably less transparent than what Apple had showcased at WWDC 2025. You have a bit of control over the style of Liquid Glass in iOS 26, but it’s still pretty restrictive.

So when Apple debuted a system-wide slider that lets users change the intensity of the Liquid Glass effect, just about everyone was delighted. You can now dial the transparency effects all the way up, which makes iOS 27 look a lot like what Apple originally envisioned Liquid Glass to be. You can also push the slider to the other end if you prefer a frosted glass look that’s better for readability.

Overall, the ability to now pick the intensity of the transparency effects, paired with much smoother performance, makes iOS 27 a joy to use. Another lesser talked about change in iOS 27 is that all third-party apps are now forced to use the new keyboard. Previously, with iOS 26, only a handful of apps that were updated to match the Liquid Glass guidelines offered the keyboard.

Siri now has its own app. Since conversations are longer and involve generative AI, the app stores your queries and lets you jump back into them at any time. The Messages app now intelligently provides quick actions based on context. For instance, if someone reminds you to do something, your iPhone will now let you add that to the Reminders app with just a tap. Call Context is another useful addition that dynamically displays related information in a card while you’re on a phone call.

The Photos app, as I’ve mentioned before, is a lot faster in operation now. Additionally, iOS 27 introduced two new AI tools, besides Clean Up, for editing images. The Extend mode expands the boundaries of an image, while the Reframe tool lets you shift the perspective of a photo a little, as though the camera were in a different position. Clean Up now offers a “High Quality” mode, which likely offloads the processing to the cloud for cleaner results. All three tools use generative AI.

You can now minimize the clock on the lock screen, which positions it to sit in line with the date. This is neat if you like having your wallpaper front and center. Switching between different lock screens is also much quicker now. As expected, the early build isn’t devoid of bugs, but if this is how snappy and stable a developer beta is, I have high hopes for iOS 27’s stable release.