Apple’s iOS 17 Might Launch Without Some Features — What Are They?

Apple's iOS 17 may come with a few missing features.

The tech giant's upcoming iOS software update has a lot of new features to bring to iPhone users, but some of them may not be ready on its release day.

Thankfully, the number of missing iOS 17 features may have dwindled to a few apps due to Apple's work on the software.

iOS 17 Features Possibly Missing on Release Day

Apple's iOS 17 is a software update mired by missing features since June, with various publications reporting that at least five features won't be ready once it launches. However, Mashable's report may have narrowed these missing features into three.

According to the publication's report, these features are AirDrop updates, the new Journal app, and Apple Music collaboration. The AirDrop updates mentioned in Mashable's report would allow iPhone users to share something over AirDrop and continue to send them even if they move away from the AirDrop range provided the sender and recipient are logged into iCloud.

However, other AirDrop features, such as putting phones close together to initiate an AirDrop transfer, will be available on release, along with communication safety and sensitive content warnings.

The Journal app, meanwhile, is a fancier version of Apple's Notes, though it allows users to add media like music, photos, and audio recordings to entries. It will even suggest moments to remember and even lock itself off so nobody else can access it.

Last but not least, the Apple Music collaboration feature would allow multiple iPhone users to add, reorder, or remove songs from a playlist shared between them. They can even react to song choices with emojis to better show what they think about the song selection in the playlist.

These features are also among Macworld's missing iOS 17 features list, which it published on Aug. 22. Aside from the previously mentioned three, Macworld's list includes AirDrop over the Internet, AirPlay in hotel rooms, and NameDrop to Apple Watch.

Thankfully, Apple may have finished working on these features since it didn't appear on Mashable's list. However, iPhone users should take these lists with a grain of salt. Nothing is confirmed until Apple releases iOS 17, which may be sooner than people think.

Apple iOS 17 Release Date

Apple, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, may be close to finishing its development of iOS 17. If Gurman's sources are correct, the company is at a point where they're almost ready to install it to its upcoming iPhone 15s as they come out of the assembly line.

This status is evidenced by the fact that Apple released the sixth, seventh, and eighth beta tests of iOS 17 in quick succession. As a result, Apple could consider the iOS 17's eighth beta test as its final version if unforeseen circumstances didn't occur.

As such, Apple could release iOS 17 on Sept. 22 - the rumored release date for the tech giant's iPadOS 17 and iPhone 15, if not later.