iOS 17 will have a few new features but won’t be new as the focus will be on fixing bugs.

Apple will provide some new features with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but the focus will be on fixing bugs and improving reliability and performance.

• What’s happening? iOS 17 was supposed to be a maintenance update aimed at improving performance and fixing bugs. But it looks like the update is rumored to provide a few “most requested features”after all.
• Why care? iOS 17 suffered from missed deadlines and a rocky start with bugs and missing features that ruined the experience for some early adopters.
• What to do? If you haven’t updated to iOS 16, tell us why in the comments. Is it because of bugs in earlier versions, missing features or something else?

What new features will iOS 17 bring?

iOS 16 suffered from missed deadlines and a rocky start, with bugs and missing features that ruined the experience for some early adopters.

But Apple reportedly doesn’t want to repeat the same mistake with its next major operating system. Codenamed Dawn, iOS 17 will reportedly release bug fixes focused on performance and reliability improvements.

But just because iOS 17 was supposed to be a Snow Leopard release, Apple won’t stop completely innovating as there will be a few new features here and there to keep users happy.

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg:

When Apple started developing iOS 17, the initial thought was to call it a tuning release – it was more focused on fixing bugs and improving performance than adding new features (not unlike the approach the company took to Snow Leopard on Mac OS X back in 2009).

The hope was to avoid the problems of iOS 16, an ambitious update that suffered from missed deadlines and a buggy launch. But later in the development process, the strategy changed.

And this:

The release of iOS 17 is now expected to boast a few “nice”features, even if it doesn’t come with improvements like last year’s updated lock screen. The goal of the software is to highlight a few of the most requested features by users.

Gurman does not mention what these new features might be.

It’s all about the headset!

Another reason there won’t be big new features in iOS 17: Headset rumors. As Gurman reported in January, work on Apple’s mixed reality headset was so labor-intensive that it drew a workforce from software development teams. As a result, iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS 14 (codenamed Sunburst) will only include some of the new features that were originally planned.

Regardless, it now appears that iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 may be more significant updates than we previously thought, and that’s a good thing.

Apple will unveil iOS 17 and the next major versions of its other operating systems at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference in June, when the company is also expected to unveil its long-awaited headset.