Apple's operating system OS 27 was announced yesterday with nearly 260 improvements made to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate, and watchOS 27. Since the iPhone is Apple's most used device, I've listed the 10 most interesting new features of iOS 27 that will arrive next September.
1. Liquid Glass Can Be More Customizable
The new Liquid Glass interface was introduced last year with its acceptance depending on the device used. On the iPhone and iPad, it looks attractive. On macOS, I'm in the category that says it makes the MacBook look like an iPad to the point of being unattractive. Interface elements are difficult to see even though the Frosted option is provided through macOS 26.1.
Through the OS 27 family, the transparency level can be changed according to the user's comfort. It can be more or less transparent compared to the two previous Liquid Glass settings. This feature is provided to all Apple operating systems.
2. Siri AI – The Smarter Virtual Assistant
Siri AI focuses on deeper conversations, better system integration, and the ability to search for content across platforms. It can now have continuous and ongoing conversations in the right context.
It can access real-time world knowledge and user personal data across multiple apps. For example, users can ask it to find a picture of you with a boat in San Francisco, find an email about concert tickets, delete all spam emails, and display a list of kitchen items your wife gave you via Notes. Siri’s interface has also been given a new lease of life. Finally, all conversation history can be accessed through the now standalone Siri AI app.
3. Two iPhones Share One Phone Number
I have two iPhones at home. One as a backup when the main iPhone is charging. Often the phone with the SIM in hand is charging and the secondary iPhone cannot make cellular calls. With iOS 27, both iPhones can share one phone number, solving the issue that has always required two SIMs with different phone numbers. How this is done is still not explained by Apple because it still requires telco support to activate.
4. AirPods Finally Have EQ
The AirPods settings screen finally offers the EQ feature that users have been asking for for a long time. EQ allows owners to change the Low, Mid and High levels on AirPods for the first time in the 10 years since the earphones were sold to the public. Until now, iPhone owners have had to use third-party apps or use the limited EQ in Apple Music to change the default EQ settings used. The feature is available on AirPods, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max.
5. AirDrop 80% Faster
AirDrop is a very fast and easy-to-use file transfer system in the Apple ecosystem. In iOS 27, the data transfer speed will be increased by up to 80%. As someone who often transfers large video files using AirDrop, this is a feature that will shorten the working time because you don't spend time waiting for the file to be ready to be sent to your MacBook.
6. Landscape App Support
The last time iOS supported landscape mode was on the iPhone 8 Plus. After that, landscape mode was no longer provided in the majority of Apple device apps for no reason. Some say it's because the screen notch causes icons to be hidden behind it. In iOS 27, several apps like Weather and Apple Music natively support landscape mode.
Why are they suddenly being brought back? The internet is speculating that this is in preparation for the foldable iPhone Ultra device that will be launched this year. The screen will continue to extend and change to landscape mode to use the entire larger inner screen.
7. Extra Large Widgets
Another sign that Apple is preparing iOS for the iPhone Ultra is the introduction of extra large widgets. There are now 4 Widget size options compared to only 3 before. These extra large widgets take up the entire screen with no room for other icons below them. Like landscape support, extra large widgets are already supported in Apple apps like Photos, Apple Music, Apple TV, and Weather. These larger widgets are particularly useful for the Calendar and Apple Music apps because all the information can be seen at a glance.
8. Reframe, Extend, and Clean Up
Apple's generative AI photo editing feature in iOS 26 has been criticized for not providing realistic results. Faces look distorted and often the replaced parts don't match other elements in the image. With iOS 27 and the new AFM 3 model, the photo editing feature has become more sophisticated.
Reframe can change the camera angle of the photo to the left, right, up and down. It's as if there's a virtual camera that retakes the photo after it was taken. Any 2D photo will be converted to spatial for the camera to change before Reframe regenerates a new photo. Extend enlarges the photo from the frame to the original frame size. Finally, Clean UP deletes elements in the photo more consistently.
9. Sync Immediately
Photos now has a Sync Immediately feature that automatically backs up photos and videos to iCloud immediately after they are taken. By default, it is not activated to save data usage, but this feature is very useful as it allows backups to be done without having to open the Photos app first and it is done in the background.
If you're worried about losing your iPhone while on vacation and not having time to save those beautiful memory photos, this feature will prevent this sad situation from happening. Sync Immediately is only activated for a day to prevent users from forgetting and it needs to be renewed every day
10. Safari Automatically Changes Leaked Passwords
Finally, the Apple Intelligence feature automatically changes passwords when Safari verifies that they have been leaked to the web. Without having to be instructed, the password is changed and then saved in Passwords automatically. The feature to detect leaked passwords has existed for a long time but still requires users to change them manually. With this new feature of iOS 27, there is no longer any need to worry about being late in changing passwords until the security of the account is compromised.
Apple confirmed that all devices currently using iOS 26 will receive iOS 27. A total of 30 iPhone models will receive the above features. The complete list of these iPhone models is as follows.
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro
iPhone 11 Pro Max
iPhone SE (2nd gen+)
iPhone 12 mini
iPhone 12
iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro Max
iPhone 13 mini
iPhone 13
iPhone 13 Pro
iPhone 13 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhone 14 Plus
iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 14 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 16e
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 17e
iPhone 17
iPhone Air
iPhone 17 Pro
iPhone 17 Pro Max
