iOS 27 Promises a Healthy Speed Boost for Older iPhones

Yesterday, Apple revealed a bunch of new features and upcoming software updates that will be available in all its products later in 2026 (or right now if you’re brave enough to try the betas). 

During its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote presentation, Apple also decided to shift things a little bit. For starters, it didn’t go through its software updates individually, as it has in the past. It basically just gave us all the big features coming to every Apple device all at once. 

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Still, there was one device-specific thing that stood out above the rest: performance.

Apple confirmed that both iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 will get a huge boost in performance. Based on Apple’s stats, this will be incredibly noticeable — and it will affect even the older iPhone models.

iOS 27 Will Make All iPhones Faster Than Ever

During its keynote, the company confirmed that the team behind iOS 27 managed to make this software update faster and more powerful than ever. 

This boost in performance should be noticeable across the entire operating system, but Apple did give a couple of examples:

1. According to the company, iOS 27 will open apps up to 30% faster than iOS 26.
2. Likewise, the pictures you take will load up to 70% faster after you take them.
3. And all the files you share via AirDrop will transfer up to 80% faster.

Those are some pretty huge numbers, and they’ll surely change the way the iPhone feels. 

iPadOS 27 is getting the same treatment, but it’ll also get an extra boost in wired file transfer speeds. After the update, browsing and transferring files to or from an external drive will be up to five times faster, which makes it just as fast as Finder on Mac.

iOS 27 Is Coming to All iPhones That Support iOS 26

The boost in performance was just the tip of the iceberg, as Apple casually confirmed that all devices that currently support iOS 26 will also be able to install iOS 27. Yes, that includes the iPhone 11 and second-generation iPhone SE, which some rumors said would be left behind.

While you won’t be able to use all the new features on your old iPhones, this software update will make them feel as responsive and snappy as with previous versions of iOS 26. This is huge, and it matters a lot since we all know that software updates tend to slow down older iPhones whose hardware isn’t capable of keeping up with the new features. 

iPad Users Won’t Be as Lucky

Unfortunately, iPad users won’t get the same treatment, as only a few devices will support iPadOS 27. More specifically, only the following models will support the update:

1. iPad Pro (M4 or a later model)
2. iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation and later)
3. iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation and later)
4. iPad Air 13-inch (M2 and later)
5. iPad Air 11-inch (M2, M3, and M4)
6. iPad Air 11-inch (4th generation and later)
7. iPad (A16)
8. iPad (9th generation and later)
9. iPad mini (A17 Pro)
10. iPad mini (6th generation and later)

To be fair, that’s still a lot of devices that will be capable of using iPadOS 27 — basically every iPad released since 2021. However, some older models that still support iOS 26, like the 2019 fifth-generation iPad mini or the 2020 eighth-generation iPad, won’t get the same treatment as the iPhone 11, despite being the same age.

Get Ready for a Performance Boost

A new software update making older devices faster isn’t all that common these days, which makes iOS 27 a massive win for legacy hardware. Of course, we can’t really hold Apple to these promises with early betas, so we’ll have to wait and see how much faster older devices actually get in real-life scenarios to make sure Apple isn’t just saying things that sound good on paper.

Still, the fact that all current devices will still get a software update, and that they’ll keep up their performance, is great news for everyone, but especially for older iPhone users.