Apple opens iOS 27 submissions; the iOS 27 SDK is required from April 2027

Apple opened App Store submissions for its new operating systems on September 9, 2026. Developers can now build with the Xcode 27 Release Candidate and submit apps for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, tvOS 27, visionOS 27 and watchOS 27. Apple also set the next minimum SDK deadline: April 2027.

The April 2027 requirement

Starting in April 2027, apps and games uploaded to App Store Connect must meet these minimums:

Platform	Must be built with
iOS and iPadOS	iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 SDK or later
tvOS	tvOS 27 SDK or later
visionOS	visionOS 27 SDK or later
watchOS	watchOS 27 SDK or later

Apple’s post gives no exact day in April and lists no macOS minimum.

Other changes in the same post

• Intel Macs: macOS 26 is the last release for Intel Macs and Rosetta, and macOS 27 runs only on Apple silicon. Apple says Mac apps can be limited to Apple silicon by building for arm64 only.
• Social media declaration: apps with social media capabilities must say so in App Store Connect, for the new Time Allowances parental controls.
• Store assets: new product page headers and search result assets, and a product page preview tool in App Store Connect that Apple lists as coming soon.

What Xcode 27 adds

Apple’s Xcode page says Xcode 27 supports coding agents “powered by the model of your choice,” including frontier coding models and agents from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI. You can add any agent that supports the Agent Client Protocol and extend Xcode with the Model Context Protocol. A new Device Hub manages physical devices and simulators in one place, with dynamic resizing and adjustable appearance. The page doesn’t mention any extra cost for the coding agents.

Who is affected

Every developer who ships to the App Store, including apps made with no-code and AI builders that produce an Xcode project or upload builds for you. After April 2027, uploads built with the older SDK won’t meet Apple’s minimum.

What to do

Build your next update with Xcode 27 and test it on iOS 27. If a builder or CI service makes your iOS builds, check that it has moved to Xcode 27 well before April 2027.