If you were hoping iOS 27 would radically overhaul the Liquid Glass design that divided iPhone users when it launched last year, Mark Gurman has some news for you. In his Power On newsletter published today, the Bloomberg reporter said the latest internal builds of iOS 27 do not reflect major design changes.
Liquid Glass Is Here to Stay — For Now
Gurman noted that Apple’s new software design chief, Steve Lemay — who succeeded Alan Dye after Dye left Apple for Meta at the end of last year — was a driving force behind Liquid Glass and was deeply involved in its development. With Lemay now leading Apple’s design team, a reversal of Liquid Glass is not expected.
Instead, users should expect years of gradual improvements to the interface rather than an immediate overhaul. Apple has been adding incremental Liquid Glass customisation options since launch — iOS 26.1 added a Tinted opacity mode, and iOS 26.2 brought a clock opacity slider for the lock screen.
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The Possible Surprise: A System-Wide Opacity Slider
Gurman said the latest iOS 27 build might include a new system-wide setting for precisely adjusting the Liquid Glass look across the entire interface — something Apple attempted with iOS 26 but could not complete due to engineering challenges. If it ships, this would be the most meaningful customisation option Apple has offered for the interface since it launched.
What iOS 27 Is Actually Focused On
iOS 27 is being treated internally as Apple’s “Snow Leopard” update — a reference to the 2009 Mac OS X release that prioritised stability and performance over new features. Apple is cleaning up legacy code, improving battery efficiency, and rewriting some built-in apps for better performance.
The update will also add iPhone Fold support with split-screen multitasking and sidebar support, a full conversational Siri chatbot, and a new Core AI developer framework replacing Core ML. Apple will unveil Core AI at WWDC 2026 in June, where iOS 27 will be officially previewed.
iOS 27 is expected to release in September 2026 alongside iPhone 18 Pro and the foldable iPhone.
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