Apple built more into its next round of software than it put on stage at WWDC. Three finished or near-finished features for iOS 27, macOS 27, and watchOS 27 already live inside internal builds running on employee devices, and they were deliberately left out of the public reveal. Each one is expected to surface later, with two tied to new hardware in the fall.
Quick answer: The three withheld features are a customizable Camera app, Siri Extensions for third-party AI chatbots, and a new Modular watch face. The watch face and Camera changes are expected alongside new Apple Watch and iPhone 18 Pro models in the fall, while Siri Extensions has groundwork already visible in the first iOS 27 developer beta and is expected to switch on at a later date.
Customizable Camera app for iPhone
The customizable Camera app lets you rearrange camera controls as widgets along the top of the interface. You pick which functions appear and where they sit, choosing from options like flash, exposure, timer, depth of field, photo styles, and resolution. It is the kind of personalization the iPhone camera has never offered before.
This feature is not in the first iOS 27 developer beta. Apple appears to be saving it for the iPhone 18 Pro, which is expected to bring its biggest camera hardware upgrade in years. Pairing a redesigned Camera app with new camera hardware gives Apple a cleaner story to tell when those phones arrive.
Siri Extensions for third-party AI chatbots
The most significant omission is Extensions, a framework that opens Siri and Apple Intelligence to third-party AI chatbots beyond ChatGPT. The idea is that you could swap the model behind Siri to something like Gemini or Claude, and the same external models could plug into features such as Writing Tools and Image Playground.
The plumbing is already in place. Underlying support for Extensions is present and visible in the first iOS 27 developer beta, including a dedicated settings panel and an App Store section that have been built and are simply waiting to be turned on. Anyone running the first iOS 27 or macOS Golden Gate betas can already see a chatbot picker that switches between Siri and ChatGPT, and that list is expected to grow once the framework goes live.
Apple has already held discussions with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google about the framework, including the entitlement those companies would need to apply for. The feature has reportedly been in active internal use for months, and the expectation is that it arrives eventually rather than being shelved.
Why Siri Extensions skipped WWDC
There are several plausible reasons Apple chose not to demo it on stage:
- Showing off strong AI interoperability could undercut Apple’s arguments to EU regulators.
- Promoting robust third-party chatbot support might have overshadowed Apple’s own Siri overhaul.
- A potential legal fight with OpenAI made it risky to publicly strip ChatGPT of its exclusive status at a developer event.
- Adding several outside AI options would have muddied the messaging while Apple was already explaining its use of Google’s models in Siri AI.
New Modular watch face for Apple Watch
watchOS 27 was expected to introduce a new Modular watch face, but it did not appear at WWDC. The design is a simplified take on the Modular Ultra face currently exclusive to the Apple Watch Ultra. It keeps the large clock layout but drops the second row of complications, making it suitable for the rest of the Apple Watch lineup.
The new face is expected to debut alongside new Apple Watch models in the fall rather than during the beta period.
When to expect each feature
| Feature | In beta now? | Expected arrival |
|---|---|---|
| Customizable Camera app | No | Fall, with iPhone 18 Pro |
| Siri Extensions | Groundwork visible, not switched on | Later, via developer framework and App Store |
| Modular watch face | No | Fall, with new Apple Watch models |
iOS 27 is in developer beta now, with a public beta planned for July and a full release in September alongside new iPhones. The features held back from WWDC fit that timeline, with the Camera app and watch face tied to fall hardware and Siri Extensions waiting on the framework and App Store pieces that are already built into the code. None of this changes what shipped with the first beta, but it does mean the version of iOS 27 you eventually install will likely look broader than the one Apple demonstrated.
