iOS 28 Update Rumours: Mark Gurman Drops Explosive Bombshell

Apple's next major iPhone software, iOS 28, is already being billed as 'far more significant' than this year's iOS 27 release, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who shared the claim in his latest Power On newsletter on Sunday.

After weeks of attention on iOS 27, which Apple is due to unveil at WWDC in a week's time. That software has been heavily trailed as a Siri‑centric release, adding what the company calls Apple Intelligence features and a long‑promised, more personalised voice assistant. Gurman's intervention quietly shifts the spotlight a year ahead, suggesting that much of the truly big change on iPhone may land not this autumn, but the one after.

iOS 28 Rumours Hint at a Bigger Leap for iPhone

In his newsletter, Gurman wrote that 'next year's '28' releases are already shaping up to be far more significant than the '27' updates.' He did not spell out what those iOS 28 changes might be, but the framing is unusually blunt for a reporter whose Apple coverage is generally measured and incremental.

Internally, Gurman said, Apple has codenamed iOS 28 'Bell.' The matching macOS 28 update is known as 'Poppy.' Codenames are rarely more than shorthand for engineers, but their emergence this early underlines that the 2025 software cycle is already well underway inside Apple's labs.

Gurman also linked iOS 28 to a key hardware moment. The software is expected to debut on Apple's redesigned 20th‑anniversary iPhone, currently tipped for September next year. If accurate, that would pair a major visual rethink of the hardware with a more ambitious rethink of the software, a combination Apple tends to reserve for its most carefully stage‑managed anniversaries.

None of this has been confirmed by Apple, and the company is unlikely to say a word about iOS 28 on stage this June.

iOS 27 Sets the Stage for iOS 28

iOS 27 is widely described as a stabilising release with one headline act. Apple has spent months previewing its next‑generation Siri, promising a version of the assistant with far sharper on‑screen awareness and a better grasp of personal context drawn from apps like Mail and Messages.

At WWDC 2024, Apple demoed a user asking Siri about their mother's flight and a lunch reservation, with the assistant pulling details directly from the user's inbox and message threads. This is the sort of scenario Apple has trailed for years without fully delivering, and iOS 27 is supposed to be the moment Siri finally joins the modern AI race in a credible way.

The update is also expected to introduce a dedicated Siri app, allowing people to hold back‑and‑forth conversations in text or voice, with a feel closer to chatbot apps such as ChatGPT. Another new touch flagged ahead of time is a 'Search or Ask' option that lives in the Dynamic Island, folding Siri more tightly into the iPhone's core navigation.

Beyond those changes, however, iOS 27 has been repeatedly likened to Mac OS X Snow Leopard — the 2009 Mac release that won plaudits not for flashy features but for hunting down bugs and shoring up performance. If iOS 27 follows that template, it will be aimed squarely at users who have grown tired of rough edges in recent iOS versions, even if it leaves feature‑hungry fans underwhelmed.

Against that backdrop, Gurman's suggestion that iOS 28 will be markedly 'more significant' starts to make more sense. Apple has form here. It has often alternated between years of sweeping change and quieter cycles of refinement. A calmer, Siri‑heavy iOS 27 could be the company giving itself room to build something more ambitious for 2025.

What that ambition looks like is still an open question. Gurman has not yet detailed specific iOS 28 features, beyond emphasising its relative weight compared with iOS 27. Given that gap, expectations around iOS 28 are likely to inflate quickly, especially among users already eyeing the 20th‑anniversary iPhone as a natural upgrade point.

For now, the only concrete points are the codenames, the internal sense of scale reported by Gurman and the rough timing. Apple's typical pattern would see iOS 28 introduced at WWDC in June 2025 and released publicly alongside the anniversary iPhone in September of that year, but the company has not confirmed any dates.

Until Apple shows its hand, iPhone owners will first have to decide how excited to be about an iOS 27 release that looks increasingly like a stepping stone. If Gurman is right, the real fireworks may be reserved for iOS 28 and the anniversary handset that ships with it.