Xcode 27 includes Swift 6.4 and SDKs for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, tvOS 27, watchOS 27, macOS 27, and visionOS 27. Xcode 27 supports on-device debugging in iOS 17 and later, tvOS 17 and later, watchOS 10 and later, and visionOS. Xcode 27 requires a Mac running macOS Tahoe 26.6 or later.
Is this new in Xcode 27? Pretty sure it as and I approve whole heartedly! I really hate setting up Xcode settings more than once.
Building with Xcode 27 doesn’t work because of some intransparent XCStrings error… and I even can’t check with Xcode 26 anymore because Apple decided to not let me run it on macOS 27…
After all these years Apple has finally broken cmd-e in Xcode 27.
Previously:
Update (2026-09-18): Jesse Squires:
Xcode 27 seems to have broken UI appearance vs Editor appearance. They used to be separate settings.
For example, previously, the app could be light mode while the editor theme was dark.
But now, you choose a dark editor theme and the whole app goes to dark mode.
I hate this.
Me, too.
Update (2026-09-24): Christian Beer:
- generate stubs for protocol: uses wrong class names
- fix for missing parameter: inserts it at the wrong position
- generating
initwithBindings,State, etc.: mostly wrong
Update (2026-10-01): Steve Troughton-Smith:
AI code completion was such a nothingburger, for all of that investment. I don’t even have it turned on in Xcode anymore. If you’re into code completion, you’re into using Codex and Claude, so why would you ever use it now.
The built-in Xcode stuff has pretty much never worked at all for me. I either get errors or it does nothing.
iPhone 18 Pro arrives with Apple concentrating its biggest changes in three areas: camera control, sustained performance, and battery life. The new Pro models retain familiar 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, but introduce a variable-aperture main camera, the 2-nanometer A20 Pro chip, redesigned thermal hardware, and a smaller Dynamic Island.
The lineup consists of iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, starting at $1,199 and $1,299 in the U.S., respectively. Both begin with 256GB of storage and are available in black, silver, glacier, and a new burgundy finish. Preorders opened September 12, with retail availability beginning September 18 in more than 65 countries and regions.
Rather than treating the Pro models as a cosmetic update, Apple has focused on changes that become more noticeable during demanding use, particularly photography, video work, gaming, AI processing, and long sessions away from a charger.
The centerpiece is a new 48MP Fusion Main camera with a physical variable aperture, a first for the iPhone.
Six laser-cut aperture blades can adjust the amount of light reaching the sensor while also changing depth of field. The camera supports four aperture settings: ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, and ƒ/4.0.
At the wider end, the camera can gather more light in darker scenes. A narrower aperture can keep more people or background detail in focus, giving photographers another tool beyond computational depth effects and Portrait mode.
Apple also gives users direct access to those settings through new Pro controls in the Camera app. Aperture, shutter speed, and white balance can be adjusted manually, while a histogram provides a more conventional way to monitor exposure.
The feature is paired with a new main-camera sensor and updated computational imaging pipeline. Apple says the combination improves low-light performance and detail, while Photographic Styles gain texture and grain controls for additional control over an image’s appearance.
Video receives several additions as well. Cinematic effects can now be applied after recording to footage captured at up to 60 frames per second, while Time-lapse can record in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR. Audio Mix has also been updated with improved voice processing and the ability to isolate music.
For photographers who want more evidence of how an image originated, Apple is introducing Apple Reference Image. In Reference mode, the main camera signs sensor data, which Private Cloud Compute uses to create an unalterable reference version that can be compared with an edited image in Photos. Apple is also preparing support for the SynthID standard as another way of identifying AI-generated or altered content.
A20 Pro is built using a 2-nanometer manufacturing process and contains a six-core CPU, seven-core GPU, and dual 16-core Neural Engine.
Apple says memory bandwidth is 50% higher than on A19 Pro, while GPU performance can be up to 40% faster. The Neural Engine provides 32 cores in total, doubling the AI processing capability of the previous Pro chip.
The silicon change is closely tied to a redesigned cooling system. Apple has rearranged the chip package so that the silicon die sits beside the memory rather than beneath it in the thermal path, allowing A20 Pro to connect more directly to a next-generation vapor chamber.
That vapor chamber has three times the surface area of the previous generation and uses new materials to move heat away from the processor more effectively. Apple claims the design can deliver up to a 40% gain in sustained performance compared with iPhone 17 Pro.
That distinction is more relevant than peak benchmark numbers for workloads such as extended gaming sessions, video editing, computational photography, and local AI models, where heat can force a phone to reduce performance over time.
Connectivity has also moved further toward Apple-designed silicon. The N1 wireless chip supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, while the new C2 modem succeeds C1X. Apple says C2 uses 15% less energy while offering faster uploads and adds mmWave support in the U.S.
Battery improvements are another major part of the new hardware.
Apple rates eSIM-only versions of iPhone 18 Pro for up to 36 hours of video playback, while iPhone 18 Pro Max reaches as much as 45 hours. Apple says Pro Max receives the largest battery-life increase ever delivered in an iPhone.
Some of that gain comes from using the space previously occupied by a physical SIM tray. In markets receiving eSIM-only models, including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, the larger internal battery provides an additional two hours of rated video playback.
Charging has accelerated as well. iPhone 18 Pro can reach 50% charge in approximately 15 minutes using a supported wired setup, while wireless charging reaches 50% in around 30 minutes. Apple says five minutes of wired charging on iPhone 18 Pro Max can provide roughly seven hours of video playback.
Both devices use aluminum unibody construction with Ceramic Shield 2 on the front and Ceramic Shield on the back. Storage options run from 256GB through 2TB.
The iPhone 18 Pro weighs 211 grams, while iPhone 18 Pro Max weighs 249 grams. Display sizes remain 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches, respectively.
The hardware launches alongside iOS 27, which places Apple Intelligence and the new Siri AI more prominently across the system.
Siri AI can use personal context from information stored across apps, respond to onscreen content, perform actions in supported apps, and handle more open-ended questions. A new Siri mode in Camera lets users ask questions and take action based on objects or information visible through the viewfinder.
Photo tools include Spatial Reframing, Extend, and an upgraded Clean Up feature, while Safari can monitor selected webpages for changes such as a product restock or price adjustment.
The Dynamic Island has also been physically reduced and redesigned. It can display up to three Live Activities simultaneously while continuing to support Face ID.
Apple released iOS 27 on September 14, while Siri AI is rolling out initially as a beta in English, with additional language support planned. iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max reach stores September 18, giving Apple a Pro lineup whose most substantial additions are less about a new exterior shape and more about physical camera control, heat management, and how long the hardware can sustain demanding workloads.
The post iPhone 18 Pro adds variable aperture, A20 Pro, and longer battery life appeared first on AppleMagazine.
Apple (release notes, security, enterprise, developer, full installer, IPSW):
Explore what’s new for macOS 27.
The page is designed in an annoying way that requires sideways scrolling, and there doesn’t seem to be a PDF list of the new features like in previous years.
See also:
There’s also a DEPRECATION NOTICE at the top of the
manpage that lists thediskutilreplacements forhdiutilsubcommands.
Fixed: launchd no longer supports loading launchd property list files with the quarantine extended attribute.
[Even] though a bootable backup is properly configured to boot, they aren’t showing up as choices in either the startup disk preference pane or the startup picker. (FB24210103, reported quite a while ago, Apple friends.)
Previously:
Update (2026-09-17): See also: Hacker News.
Andrew Cunningham (Hacker News):
Generative AI is unavoidable if you install macOS 27 Golden Gate. I’m being very literal: There used to be a toggle you could hit if you wanted to turn off Apple Intelligence and delete the gigabytes’ worth of AI models it would download to your disk, and now there isn’t. Apple Intelligence defines the Golden Gate release, in everything from its marketing to its features to the chips it runs on to the amount of space it takes on your disk.
[…]
More impressively, for apps that support it, the iPhone Mirroring window can now be resized dynamically while running apps. Apps will resize themselves to take up all the available space, and once the window is wide enough, you can even take advantage of multi-column iPad-style views for the apps that offer them.
[…]
For most Mac users, though, Golden Gate is a no-brainer update with few major downsides. It won’t hurt anything to wait until the 27.1 or 27.2 release if you’re already on macOS 15 Sequoia or macOS 26 Tahoe and you’re not in a hurry.
macOS Golden Gate: 10 Features to Try First
Did Virtualization under 27 get hit with the slow stick? Trying to run a Mac VM on my M1 Ultra and it feels basically unusable. Getting Intel flashbacks.
In System Settings Privacy & Security, the Accessibility pane has been renamed to Device Control and Data Access.
Have you been noticing that, starting with macOS 27, you have been consistently failing to SSH to a remote machine? Is it the case that the remote machine’s password ends with a shifted character?
There is a new setting: “Shift Return sends Meta Return” under Settings > Profiles > (profile) > Keyboard. This setting (enabled by default!) will cause a shift-return keypress to insert an ESC before the return is sent.
As part of testing macOS Golden Gate, it was discovered by myself and others that MDM enrollment does not appear to completely work.
Golden Gate broke
AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivilegessuch that spawned tasks no longer inherit PATH of the calling process[…]
After upgrading to macOS 27 Golden Gate, my beloved copy of 1Password 7 started crashing every time I unlocked it.
[…]
If you’re planning ahead, you can disable Watchtower from Settings before you upgrade to macOS 27, but if you’ve already upgraded, then you’ll need to disable it with the following terminal command[…]
Update (2026-09-21): Benjamin Mayo:
Ever since updating to Golden Gate, my Mac now periodically makes a scratchy paper alert sound. No idea from what.
Hopefully 1Password will upgrade v7 for OS 27 compatibility, but I can’t count on them fixing bugs in v7 — they’re pushing users to v8.
I found a ‘fix’ for this crash, but that command didn’t work (even after enabling Full Disk Access for Terminal so it could actually execute), and isn’t available on iPhone or iPad.
Golden Gate status: wow, the new menu extra/Control Center area is rough. Not just unpolished UI behaviors but multiple crashes. Hidden Bar is no longer functional and none of the replacements I found actually worked, while having about 100 features I don’t want.
System keyboard shortcuts also seem to be an area that weren’t well tested. My preferred screenshot shortcuts were ignored until I opened that section of System Settings, and some Siri thing created a conflict with Spotlight so I get both of them when I press ⇧⌘Space.
Previously:
Update (2026-09-23): Jesse Squires:
macOS golden gate is still shockingly terrible in unexpected ways.
I’m no math expert, but I’m pretty sure this doesn’t add up to anywhere near 16GB. I’ve only started seeing this dialog in the release build of macOS 27.0, despite running the betas all summer, so clearly there are some ghosts in this build
Okay… how do you
- make everything super huge like the text and pictures… while
- having way more empty space than you need AND STILL have to
- truncate your text labels?
8 of the 9 text labels are truncated.
Can we please have designers who know how to design for DESKTOP software and NOT magazines/print?
There are a surprising number of behavioral bugs in Golden Gate. It's not just a superficial update. Apple is basically breaking AppKit.
I reported a bug to Apple in May, found while building Alcove. Two OS releases later it still isn’t fixed. It has gotten worse with each one.
[…]
On the betas the whole window went blank after the Cmd-Tab: sidebar, content, detail pane, status bar, everything but the toolbar. On the 27.0 release it usually doesn’t wait for the Cmd-Tab. In 5 of 6 clean launches the window came up with only the toolbar drawn. Cmd-Tabbing away and back doesn’t fix it. It moves the sidebar’s first row up under the traffic-light buttons and leaves the rest of the window empty[…]
Golden Gate Finder bug:
If you start dragging a file, the mouse scroll wheel stops working.
I’m seeing a bug on Golden Gate where main menu item titles are not displayed if the item is added to the menu after launch. Examples: the Safari Develop menu and the Profile menus of Chrome and Firefox.
Update (2026-09-24): Avi Drissman:
It’s bizarre that hiding a main menu item would hold the space rather then shift things over.
Search on Golden Gate is twice as good.
Update (2026-09-25): Ric Ford:
Randy Singer emailed us about printer and scanner failures following macOS 27 installation. Fortunately, there’s a fix: reinstalling Apple’s deprecated and removed Rosetta 2 emulation code[…]
We’re also already recommending upgrading your Mac to Golden Gate. The new OS includes several important audio improvements, and as a result, Golden Gate provides the best experience when using our apps. Below, you’ll find details on key bug fixes Apple included in MacOS 27.
pdfu (via Jeff Johnson):
Hidden behind a feature flag, the System Settings app can now be resized in any direction. You can make the app window narrower than the default too, or adjust the sidebar to get even more space.
Update (2026-09-28): Matt:
Steve Jobs would fire the entire company and replace them with AI if he was alive to see this
Turns out, Backblaze is half busted on macOS 27 and there’s no fix yet. Have to launch /Library/Backblaze.bzpkg/bzbmenu.app manually for now, it seems.
Update (2026-10-05): Karsten Kusche:
Kudos to 1Password for providing an update for version 7 on iOS and macOS to restore compatibility with this year’s operating systems!!
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