For the past several months, we’ve assumed that the next iOS release would be light on features and heavy on performance improvements and bug fixes. But a new report says that might not be the case—in fact, iOS 17 might be the most exciting release in years.
According to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Apple has pivoted from its initial strategy for iOS 17, which was originally “focused more on fixing bugs and improving performance than adding new features.” Now, he reports, Apple is all-in on new features, and iOS 17 is “expected to boast several ‘nice to have’ features” when it arrives this fall.
While he doesn’t divulge what those features could be, he claims that they are among the “most requested features” by iPhone users. It’s not hard to make a list of features we’ve wanted for years—multiple users, custom icons, multiple timers, multitasking, separate volume controls for media and calls, etc.—but Gurman says the features will be smaller ones since iOS 17 “lacks a tentpole improvement like last year’s revamped lock screen.”
But it’s still an intriguing notion and makes the wait for iOS 17 that much more difficult. While Apple hasn’t officially announced the dates yet, it will show off the next version of iOS at the WWDC keynote this June ahead of its full release this fall. Gurman doesn’t mention whether iPadOS 17 and macOS 14, which will also debut at WWDC, will have the same strategy.
