iOS 27 arrives next week: older iPhones could feel faster

iOS 27 lands next week, Apple says, and one of the more welcome changes has nothing to do with flashy new tricks. Older iPhones are supposed to feel faster.

In Apple’s early beta tests on an iPhone 11 Pro Max, the Camera app opened in 0.65 seconds instead of 0.98. Taking a photo and then opening it dropped from 3.61 seconds to 2.44. Maps also sped up, going from 3.01 seconds to 1.36. Apple says Safari, the App Store, and the share sheet feel smoother too.

If you’re using an iPhone 11, 12, or 13, this one looks worth installing.

Apple says an optimized CPU scheduler, along with other refinements, can cut app launch times by as much as 30%, make new photos load in the library up to 70% faster, and speed up AirDrop by up to 80%. The catch is that the headline AI features still depend on newer hardware: revamped Siri and Apple Intelligence require an iPhone 15 Pro or later, and some on-device features need an iPhone 17 or iPhone Air. Siri will also start as an English-only beta, with no availability in the EU or China at first. Apple says French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish will follow in October 2026.

You’ll be able to download iOS 27 next week on supported iPhones, including the iPhone 11, which is now heading into roughly its eighth year of updates, Apple says. And if early beta users are right, the bigger story here is simple: iOS 27 makes older iPhones feel snappier than iOS 26 did, instead of just making them feel old enough to replace.