Apple is preparing a major revamp of the AirPods settings screen in iOS 27, aiming to make the layout more functional, organized, and streamlined as features like head gestures, hearing aid functionality, and sleep detection have crowded the existing UI.
The AirPods settings screen has always been there—until you get to a point where it feels like it’s taken on too much.
Right when AirPods connect, their controls jump to the top of the iPhone’s Settings app. But that quick access has come with a growing problem: the layout inside that screen has become cluttered over the years.
Apple’s plan, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, is to change that in iOS 27. The upcoming update would significantly alter the AirPods menu’s layout in the Settings app, with a design described as “more functional, better organized and more streamlined.”
The reason is straightforward. Apple has kept adding new AirPods features—head gestures. hearing aid functionality. sleep detection and more—without rebuilding the settings interface that dates back to the original AirPods. Each addition has effectively been attached to the same underlying UI. leaving users to scroll through a screen that can feel overwhelming once the feature list grows.
There’s another detail that matters: a dedicated ‘AirPods’ app doesn’t appear to be on the cards. Even as Apple reorganizes the existing Settings screen, AirPods would still remain confined to Settings rather than getting a companion app that appears on the iPhone’s home screen.
Bloomberg also says the AirPods settings UI changes are expected to be part of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27.
Apple’s new operating systems are set to be officially unveiled at WWDC in just a couple of weeks. The main keynote kicks off at 10 AM PT on June 8.
That WWDC moment is also tied to another shift Apple is expected to make: a major redesign of Siri, aimed at a more modern chatbot-like experience and supported by new AI models using Google Gemini technology.
iOS 27 AirPods settings iPadOS 27 macOS 27 WWDC Siri redesign Bloomberg Mark Gurman AirPods Pro