Apple’s iOS 27 plan

Hey everyone, it’s Mark. Apple’s next major iPhone software update — iOS 27 — will have two major elements: quality improvements and artificial intelligence features. Also: The report on Tim Cook’s imminent departure as CEO is premature, and OpenAI continues poaching Apple engineers. Lastly, the iPhone Air designer who introduced the device has left the company.

Last week in Power On: Apple’s iPhone overhaul will reduce the company’s reliance on the holiday season.

Programming note: Power On will be on a brief hiatus until early next year. In the meantime, you can get your Apple news from Bloomberg.com and your technology insights from our other newsletters. Wishing everyone a happy holiday season!

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The Starters

Apple’s iOS 26 announcement in June 2025. Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg

In 2009, after the seismic release of Mac OS X Leopard, Apple Inc. rolled out an operating system called Snow Leopard that was focused on subtle improvements and quality control.

The premise was simple: refine the existing software rather than add new features. But it was still an intense overhaul. Apple rewrote core pieces of the software, fixed bugs, removed older code and cleared out unnecessary system files. The goal was to...

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