visionOS 27 introduces Gaussian Splatting support in RealityKit, enabling developers to scan real-world objects and render them as photorealistic 3D Gaussian splats directly in their spatial experiences. This bridges the gap between physical reality and virtual content without requiring manual 3D modeling.
ā¢ Capture real-world objects with stunning detail (down to soil texture on a plant) and embed them directly into RealityKit scenes ā no modeling tools required
ā¢ Dramatically reduces asset creation time for objects that are difficult to hand-model, like organic shapes, cluttered surfaces, or highly detailed props
ā¢ Renders in real time on Apple Vision Pro's M5 chip, making photorealistic scanned objects viable for live, interactive spatial experiences
Liquid Glass is Apple's new material and visual design language introduced in iOS 27, bringing translucent, refractive glass-like surfaces to system and custom UI elements. It replaces the frosted vibrancy aesthetic with a more dynamic, depth-aware material that responds to content beneath it.
iOS 27 brings a sweeping set of SwiftUI enhancements including Liquid Glass design adoption, new toolbar visibility and overflow APIs, document architecture improvements with Observable, and resizable iPhone app support ā all designed to modernize app UIs with minimal code changes.
Xcode 27 introduces a fully customizable toolbar and theme system, untitled scratch projects, coding agent integration directly in the editor, and the new Device Hub for evaluating apps across simulators and physical devices side-by-side.
In-depth guide
RealityKit & USDKit in iOS 27 āPaperKit is Apple's full-featured canvas framework ā previously internal-only ā now publicly available in iOS/macOS/visionOS 27. It powers the drawing and markup experience in Notes, Preview, and Freeform, giving developers access to a complete pencil, shapes, images, and text canvas with a rich data model.