iOS 27: 5 Features That Finally Arrived
iOS 27 is a refinement update packed with long-awaited features: AI-powered photo editing (Extend and Spatial Reframe), finally-here basics like separate alarm volume and CarPlay scrubbing, aesthetic tweaks with customizable liquid glass, a complete Siri overhaul with on-device AI and personal context awareness, and across-the-board performance gains of 30-80% that especially benefit older iPhones.
Photo Editing: Generative AI Tools
Extend: Reshape Photos with AI
The Extend tool uses generative AI to expand photo edges in any direction, reconstructing missing pixels to change aspect ratios. It works best on consistent patterns and abstract backgrounds but can surprisingly recreate entire objects from scratch.
Spatial Reframe: Move the Camera Perspective
This feature lets you drag and morph the perspective of a photo as if the camera had been positioned differently in physical space, generating new pixels to fill unseen areas. Quality degrades faster than Extend, but it's useful for perfecting nearly-symmetrical shots.
Photo Editing Constraints
Both Extend and Spatial Reframe require an internet connection to access cloud-based AI models. Each photo can only be extended or reframed once per session, though users can screenshot results to work around this limit.
Long-Overdue Features: The 'Finally' Section
Separate Alarm Volume Control
iOS 27 finally allows users to adjust alarm volume independently from system volume—a feature Android has had for approximately 20 years. This was a running joke in the Apple community for years.
Smarter Wi-Fi to Cellular Switching
The OS now better manages transitions from weak home Wi-Fi networks to cellular data, eliminating the frustration of maps losing signal for the first few blocks of navigation.
CarPlay Media Scrubbing
Users can now scrub forward and backward through media playback on the CarPlay timeline in the Now Playing interface, a feature that should have existed years ago.
AirPods Custom EQ
AirPods with H2 chip or later now support a three-band equalizer for audio customization, ending years of speculation that Apple was deliberately withholding this feature.
Aesthetic Refinements
Liquid Glass Customization Slider
A new Appearances tab lets users dial in exactly how much liquid glass effect they want, from fully transparent (left) to frosted and opaque (right), with the default positioned in the middle.
Icon and Text Improvements
Home screen icons are subtly refined with crisper text and shadows that are easier to read. Apple's stock app icons have also been updated, and several new appearances are available.
Compact Lock Screen Clock
A new compact clock option allows users to shrink the lock screen clock display significantly, freeing up visual real estate.
Redesigned Search Interface
The home screen swipe-down search has been completely redesigned and integrated with Siri for a unified search and AI experience.
Siri AI: Complete Overhaul
New Visual Design and Animation
Siri now expands from the Dynamic Island as a semi-transparent crystal orb that responds to voice input. Users can drag it into a full overlay conversation window or open a dedicated Siri app with conversation history.
Expressive, Customizable Voice
Siri's voice is now more human-like and expressive, with adjustable speed and multiple voice options to choose from during setup.
Contextual and Conversational
Siri now retains context across follow-up questions, has broad world knowledge, and can answer questions about what's currently on your screen using on-screen awareness.
Personal Data Access and Indexing
Siri indexes personal data from iMessages, emails, calendar events, and photos during setup (taking a few days). It can then answer queries like 'what watch did Dave send me?' or 'where was I two Saturdays ago?' by pulling from messages, wallet transactions, and geotagged photos.
Siri Camera Mode
A new Siri mode in the camera app (one swipe away) lets users take photos and immediately ask Siri questions about the image, similar to Google Lens functionality.
Third-Party App Integration (Coming Soon)
App developers can push updates allowing Siri to access data from WhatsApp, Telegram, Gmail, and other third-party apps. Users will be prompted to enable Siri access per app. This rollout is expected to accelerate when iOS 27 launches publicly in September.
Performance Gains Across the Board
Massive Speed Improvements
iOS 27 delivers significant performance boosts: 70% faster photo gallery loading, 30% faster app launches, and 80% faster AirDrop transfers. These improvements are especially noticeable on older devices.
Optimized CPU Scheduler
A new CPU scheduler addresses behind-the-scenes bloat and inefficiencies, making the OS run smoother and snappier. This is particularly transformative for older devices like the iPhone 11 (2019), which now feels noticeably newer.
Broad Device Compatibility
iOS 27 maintains compatibility all the way back to iPhone 11 from 2019, ensuring that older devices benefit significantly from the performance optimizations rather than becoming slower.
Honorable Mentions
Food Photo Nutrition Lookup
When you open a food photo in the Photos app, Siri can identify it and surface a nutrition lookup button showing a sliding scale assessment of how healthy the food is, without attempting detailed calorie counts.
Automatic Password Security Fix
The Passwords app can now automatically identify and fix weak or compromised passwords across your accounts, making users official 'password zap reliers.'
Natural Language Shortcuts
Users can now describe a new Siri shortcut in plain English, and iOS 27 will generate it from scratch, with the option to edit afterward.
iMessage Threaded Replies with Android
iOS 27 finally enables threaded replies in iMessage conversations with Android users, improving cross-platform messaging clarity.
Notable quotes
This is the update of refinement. There's no big sweeping changes, just a lot of little things we've been waiting for. — Marques Brownlee
Fricking finally, bro. This has been an Android feature for like 20 years at this point. — Marques Brownlee
Everything is noticeably faster. Actually using the phone and feeling it being noticeably smoother and snappier is actually pretty sick. — Marques Brownlee