iOS 27 update: Liquid Glass haters should prepare for disappointment
Last year, Apple caused a stir on the internet by introducing Liquid Glass to iOS 26. According to a new report, nothing is going to change on that front in 2026.
In his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg, prominent Apple reporter Mark Gurman said that Apple will not be dropping Liquid Glass with iOS 27, set to release later this year. According to Gurman, "the latest internal versions of iOS 27 and macOS 27 don’t reflect major design changes," so you shouldn't expect anything on that front in the coming months.
Apple isn't just doing this out of stubbornness or lack of regard for customer concerns, of course. Gurman said that going away from Liquid Glass isn't feasible right now considering how long it took to put together.
"The interface was the result of a multiyear effort that started with visionOS, which itself had been in development for several years before shipping in 2024," Gurman reported. "Because of the timelines involved, any major reversal away from Liquid Glass would likely take years to materialize."
While there are certainly plenty of Apple device owners out there who are either happy with Liquid Glass or are neutral about it, lots of folks were very vocal online about troubles with readability and icons looking indistinct from one another when the update launched last September. The company quickly provided a way to "tint" Liquid Glass, which helps a bit. Gurman also reported in his newsletter that Apple might add a Liquid Glass slider to control the intensity of the effect in iOS 27, which might help even more.
But it sounds like Liquid Glass is here to stay, in one form or another. Instead of another UI overhaul, you can look forward to Siri getting a bunch of AI enhancements in iOS 27.