At some point in the last couple of months, Apple shifted its approach for iOS 17 to be less focused on stability and fixing bugs and more focused on adding new features and changes, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman said today.

In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said that Apple had initially hoped iOS 17 would be “focused more on fixing bugs and improving performance than adding new features,” however, later on in the development cycle, Apple shifted its approach for the next major update of iOS to be more feature-heavy.

“When Apple set out to develop iOS 17, the initial thinking was to call it a tuneup release — one focused more on fixing bugs and improving performance than adding new features,” Gurman said today. “The hope was to avoid the problems of iOS 16, an ambitious update that suffered from missed deadlines and a buggy start,” Gurman continued.

According to Gurman, iOS 17 is now set to include “nice to have features,” but it may lack major tentpole features like iOS 16, which introduced a redesigned Lock Screen. iOS 17, codenamed Dawn, is set to “check off several of users’ most requested features,” added the journalist. Specific details of what iOS 17 will include are currently unknown, but augmented reality is expected to be an overarching theme of this year’s WWDC.

The iOS 17 release is now expected to boast several “nice to have” features, even if it lacks a tentpole improvement like last year’s revamped lock screen. The goal of the software, codenamed “Dawn,” is to check off several of users’ most requested features.

Mark Gurman

iOS 17, alongside the next major update for iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS, are expected to be announced at WWDC in early June. This year’s WWDC is expected to be particularly busy compared to past years, with the rumored announcement of Apple’s first AR/VR headset, the reveal of its new “xrOS” platform, and updates to the company’s existing operating systems.