Xcode 27 requirement: prepare for the April 2027 deadline

The Xcode 27 requirement is now official: starting April 2027, every iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro and Apple Watch app uploaded to App Store Connect must be built with the version 27 SDKs, and iOS and iPadOS apps must target iOS 15 or later. Apple announced it on September 9, 2026, alongside the opening of App Store submissions for iOS 27. It sounds like a routine yearly bump, but this one comes with two changes that can break your release plan: the Liquid Glass opt-out stops working the moment you build with the iOS 27 SDK, and Xcode 27 does not run on older Macs.

This guide covers exactly what Apple requires and when, what changes in your app when you rebuild, the commands to check where each project stands, and a month-by-month plan to be ready well before the cutoff. Every requirement is quoted from Apple's submission page, its developer news and its documentation, linked throughout.

Key takeaways

• From April 2027, uploads must be built with the iOS & iPadOS 27 SDK (and tvOS, visionOS and watchOS 27 SDKs), which means Xcode 27 or later.
• iOS and iPadOS apps must also target iOS 15 or later. Today's floor, in force since September 9, 2026, is iOS 13.
• The exact day in April has not been announced. Last year's cutoff was April 28.
• When you build with the iOS 27 SDK, Apple says the system ignores UIDesignRequiresCompatibility, so your app takes on the new design whether you are ready or not.
• Xcode 27 needs macOS Tahoe 26.6 or later, so check every Mac and CI runner that archives your app.

What Apple announced#

On September 9, 2026, Apple opened App Store submissions for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, tvOS 27, visionOS 27 and watchOS 27, and set the minimums for next spring. The submission page states it this way: "Starting April 2027, apps and games uploaded to App Store Connect need to meet the following minimum requirements."

macOS apps are not on the list. The requirement applies to uploads: new apps and every update you send to App Store Connect after the cutoff, including TestFlight builds, since TestFlight builds are uploaded the same way.

When exactly in April?#

Apple has not said. A developer asked on the Apple Developer Forums whether Xcode 26 builds would still be accepted in March 2027, and an Apple DTS engineer replied that "per policy, we are unable to disclose, confirm, or comment on exact dates for future SDK requirements and App Store submission cutoffs before they are officially announced," pointing to the Apple Developer News page and the App Store Connect release notes.

The pattern is predictable, though. Apple's upcoming requirements page shows the Xcode 15 requirement starting April 29, 2024 and the Xcode 26 requirement starting April 28, 2026. Plan as if the cutoff is the last week of April 2027, and do not plan to ship your first iOS 27 SDK build that week.

Apple has not named the day, so pin your own internal deadline weeks before late April. Photo: Towfiqu barbhuiya / Pexels

The deployment target rises twice#

Two minimum-version rules are in play, and they are easy to confuse:

1. Already in force: since September 9, 2026, Apple's upcoming requirements page says "iOS and iPadOS apps uploaded to App Store Connect must target iOS 13 or later."
2. From April 2027: iOS and iPadOS apps must "target iOS 15 or later."

The second rule matches what Xcode 27 can build anyway. Apple's Xcode system requirements list deployment targets of iOS 15 to 27 for Xcode 27, along with watchOS 9 or later and macOS 12 or later. If your app still supports iOS 13 or 14, the April upload will be the release that drops those users. Check your analytics for the share of active devices on iOS 14 or older before you decide how to communicate it; our guide to App Store Connect analytics shows where to find usage data.

What changes when you build with the iOS 27 SDK#

The Liquid Glass opt-out stops working#

When iOS 26 introduced Liquid Glass, Apple gave developers a temporary escape hatch: the UIDesignRequiresCompatibility Info.plist key, which runs the app in a compatibility mode that "displays the app as it looks when built against previous versions of the SDKs." Apple's documentation for the key now ends with this sentence: "The system ignores this key when you build for iOS 27 or later, iPadOS 27 or later, Mac Catalyst 27 or later, macOS 27 or later, or tvOS 27 or later."

An Apple frameworks engineer confirmed the scope in an accepted forum answer: "The UIDesignRequiresCompatibility Info.plist opt-out flag will no longer be honored on iOS 27 once an app is built against iOS 27. Apps built against earlier releases will not change until building against iOS 27."

Put those together with the April requirement and the conclusion is simple: if your app still ships with this key set to YES, the first update you upload after the cutoff will switch your UI to the current design. Search your projects now:

# Find every Info.plist that still opts out of the new design
grep -rl "UIDesignRequiresCompatibility" --include="*.plist" .

# Check what a built app actually contains
plutil -p MyApp.app/Info.plist | grep -E "UIDesignRequiresCompatibility|DTSDKName|DTXcode|MinimumOSVersion"

If the key shows up, budget real design and QA time. Stack Overflow is full of compatibility mode edge cases, from bottom sheets to toolbar spacing, which tells you how many apps leaned on it. Those apps now have a fixed date to finish the move.

Your build Macs need macOS Tahoe 26.6#

According to Apple's Xcode system requirements, Xcode 27, 27.1 and 27.2 RC all require "macOS Tahoe 26.6 or later". Xcode 26 through 26.3 still ran on macOS Sequoia 15.6. If anyone on your team, a self-hosted build machine or a hosted CI image is still on Sequoia, it cannot produce an upload Apple will accept after the cutoff. Xcode 27 also moves to the Swift 6.4 compiler, so plan a compile-and-test pass even if you change nothing else.

Every Mac that archives a release build, including CI machines, needs macOS Tahoe 26.6 or later for Xcode 27. Photo: Lukas Blazek / Pexels

Other App Store requirements that land at the same time#

• iPhone Duo screenshots. The App Store Connect release notes for October 15, 2026 say: "Starting April 2027, any apps or games submitted will need to include screenshots for iPhone Duo." Our iPhone Duo app checklist covers the layouts, and the App Store screenshot sizes guide lists the specs.
• Age rating questions. Apple's September 9 announcement says apps with social media capabilities must indicate them in the age rating questions in App Store Connect.
• macOS 27 is Apple silicon only. The same announcement says macOS 26 is the last release for Intel Macs, and suggests building for arm64 only if you want to limit a Mac app to Apple silicon.

How to check where each app stands#

Run these on the Mac that builds your releases:

# Which Xcode is active, and which SDKs it has
xcodebuild -version
xcodebuild -showsdks
xcrun --sdk iphoneos --show-sdk-version

# Switch to Xcode 27 if several versions are installed
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode_27.app

# The deployment target each target in a project uses
xcodebuild -showBuildSettings -project MyApp.xcodeproj \
  | grep IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET | sort -u

The built app's Info.plist records which SDK and Xcode produced it in the DTSDKName and DTXcode keys, and the deployment target in MinimumOSVersion, which is a quick way to audit an archive your CI produced.

Raise the deployment target everywhere#

The app target is the easy part. Dependencies often pin their own lower targets, which produces warnings and, with some tools, failed builds:

• Xcode project or xcconfig: set IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET = 15.0 (or higher) for every target, including extensions and widgets.
• Swift packages you own: declare platforms: [.iOS(.v15)] or higher in Package.swift.
• CocoaPods: set platform :ios, '15.0' in the Podfile and run pod install. Many teams also raise each pod's target in a post_install hook:

post_install do |installer|
  installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
    target.build_configurations.each do |config|
      if config.build_settings['IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET'].to_f < 15.0
        config.build_settings['IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET'] = '15.0'
      end
    end
  end
end

React Native, Flutter and other cross-platform apps#

Your framework's iOS toolchain has to support Xcode 27 too. Community reports such as "React Native 0.85 app fails to launch on Xcode 27" and "Problems debugging Flutter App using Xcode 27's iOS 27 Simulator" show people already hitting edges. Check your framework's release notes for the first version that officially supports Xcode 27, upgrade on a branch, and run the native iOS build in CI before you touch features.

A month-by-month plan to April 2027#

Do not let the requirement land in the same weeks as a launch or a big campaign. App Review volume can swing, as our guide to App Store review time explains, and a first build on a new SDK is exactly the kind that comes back with surprises. If one does get rejected, our list of App Store rejection reasons covers the most common fixes, and a TestFlight public link is a fast way to get the new build onto more devices first.

What happens if you miss the deadline#

Apple's requirement is written for uploads, so missing it does not, by itself, pull your current version from the store. What it does is block you: after the cutoff, App Store Connect will not accept a new build made with an older SDK, which means no bug fixes, no new features and no TestFlight builds until you move to Xcode 27. That is the worst moment to discover that your design opt-out has expired or that your CI Mac cannot run the new Xcode.

Android has the same kind of yearly deadline. If you ship on both stores, our guide to Google Play's target API 36 and Android 16 changes covers the Play side.

Xcode 27 requirement checklist#

• Every app builds with Xcode 27 and the iOS & iPadOS 27 SDK.
• Every target, extension and dependency targets iOS 15 or later.
• UIDesignRequiresCompatibility removed, and the new design tested.
• Release Macs and CI images run macOS Tahoe 26.6 or later.
• tvOS, visionOS and watchOS apps build with their 27 SDKs.
• Cross-platform framework upgraded to a version that supports Xcode 27.
• iPhone Duo screenshots ready for submissions from April 2027.
• Age rating answers updated, including social media capabilities.
• First Xcode 27 build shipped to the App Store by March 2027.

Keep updates flowing after the switch#

A platform deadline is a good excuse to ship a visible update, not just a recompile: new design, release notes that explain it, and fresh screenshots. When it is out, give it some reach beyond the store too. You can list your iOS app on the AppRanker leaderboard, where position is a plain sort on what each listing has paid and every row links straight to your App Store page.

FAQ#

When does Xcode 27 become required for App Store submissions?#

Starting April 2027, per Apple's submission page. Apple has not announced the exact day; the Xcode 26 requirement started April 28, 2026, and the Xcode 15 requirement April 29, 2024.

Can I still upload apps built with Xcode 26 in March 2027?#

Apple has not confirmed the cutoff day. Its DTS engineer said Apple cannot comment on exact dates before they are announced. Until then, Xcode 26 builds are accepted, but plan to have your first Xcode 27 build live before April.

What is the minimum iOS version for the App Store in 2027?#

From April 2027, iOS and iPadOS apps must target iOS 15 or later. Since September 9, 2026, the minimum is iOS 13.

Does UIDesignRequiresCompatibility still work with Xcode 27?#

No. Apple's documentation says the system ignores the key when you build for iOS 27 or later, and an Apple engineer confirmed it is no longer honored once an app is built against iOS 27. Apps built with older SDKs keep the old look until they are rebuilt.

Which macOS version does Xcode 27 need?#

macOS Tahoe 26.6 or later, according to Apple's Xcode system requirements.

Will my app be removed from the App Store if I do not update?#

Apple's requirement applies to uploads. It does not say existing versions will be removed, but you will not be able to upload any update or TestFlight build until it is built with Xcode 27.

Image credits#

• Cover, MacBook Air with code: photo by Oluwaseun Duncan on Pexels, Pexels License. Cropped to 1200x630.
• Calendar with red pins: photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Pexels, Pexels License. Resized.
• Coding on a MacBook Pro: photo by Lukas Blazek on Pexels, Pexels License. Resized.