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The latest version of the iPhone operating system is iOS 26.5 and everyone with a compatible iPhone can install it now. Read on to find out what’s new, what is still to come, and everything else you need to know about the latest iPhone update.
If you are yet to install iOS 26 (which arrived in September 2025), there is a lot to get excited about: not only did iOS 26 bring the biggest design change we’ve seen since 2013 (when iOS 7 dropped the skeuomorphic design in favor of flat icons) it also puts the phone back in iPhone, with several call enhancements–from Voice Mail Summaries and Hold Assist to Live Translations–that will make it feel almost like you have a personal receptionist at your service.
Digital security is top of mind for most of us these days–or should be. A focus for Apple is on-device spam filtering. iPhone will be able to screen calls before connecting you, while Messages will also filter out all types of scams and spam.
There are dozens of tweaks and improvements throughout iOS 26. Efforts have been made to clean up and simplify menus, including in the Camera app and brand-new Games app, while Visual Intelligence, Genmoji and Image Playground that were all introduced in iOS 18 have new functionality that makes them simpler to use and smarter than ever. Small but significant, one of our favorite tweaks is quite simply the ability to copy just part of a text message rather than the whole thing.
In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about iOS 26–how to download it, which iPhones are supported, what major changes have been made, the latest version, what’s coming in the next update, and more. Read on to see what’s in store for iPhone (11 and later) users.
Wondering whether to install iOS 26? Read: iOS 26 vs iOS 18: What’s different, what’s new, and should you update? Also find out why if you aren’t running iOS 26 you should update!
Foundry
Typically the x.6 release for Apple’s operating systems comes a couple months after the x.5 release, and contains only bug fixes and security updates. Prior to the x.6 release, Apple introduces the next major operating system update at WWDC, and the development of new features is targeted at that. Occasionally, the remaining point releases add support for upcoming accessories, too.
Apple will be already working on iOS 27, which it will be demoing at WWDC in June. Following the keynote on Monday June 8 it is likely that the developer beta of iOS 27 will be available for testing.
Apple released iOS 26.5 on May 11. It adds the beta of RCS encrypted messaging as well as suggested places and advertisements in Maps. It also features Apple’s yearly collection of Pride wallpapers.
What’s in the iOS 26.5 update? #apple #iphone #ios
On April 22, Apple released iOS 26.4.2 addressing unspecified bugs and security vulnerabilities.
Apple released iOS 26.4.1 on April 11 to address an iCloud syncing bug and enable Stolen Device Protection by default on devices that had not done so following the iOS 26.4 update.
iOS 26.4 arrived on March 24 and includes the following:
On February 11, Apple released iOS 26.3. The release notes only mentions bug fixes and security updates, but there’s a new Android-to-iOS switching experience, and some EU mandated changes as well.
Here’s what is new:
The iOS 26.2 update arrived on December 12 and included:
This is the second significant update to iOS 26, with several more expected. So far, they have focused on polish and quality-of-life improvements, but we expect a big Siri overhaul and maybe some other features in iOS 26.4.
Released on November 3, 2025, iOS 26.1 was the first major update to the iOS 26 operating system, introducing several interface refinements and quality-of-life upgrades. While the initial release of iOS 26 introduced the “Liquid Glass” design language, version 26.1 focused on giving users more control over this aesthetic and restoring features that had been removed or altered.
Apple has delivered on pretty much all its promises for iOS 26 made at WWDC, but there are a few more things that could arrive over the next few months.
Here are just some of the new features you will find in iOS 26:
Apple
The biggest change in iOS 26 is a visual one: a bold new redesign known as Liquid Glass.
The new design features a graphical user interface that Apple is calling Liquid Glass, which creates a translucent effect that mimics the qualities of glass.
The new Liquid Glass design language represents the biggest change to iOS since iOS 7 was introduced in 2013. Back then, Apple dropped the skeuomorphic design in favor of flat symbolic icons. This time everything is more curved, less flat, with translucent elements reflecting or refracting the content in the background, and resizing to fit around what is onscreen. The Liquid Glass elements will also change color to reflect the content beneath as you scroll, and it will be possible to see blurred and refracted elements of the background through the top layer.
Apple says that it will feel more like interacting with the physical world, with elements dynamically reacting to your touch. The company also says the changes “blur the lines between hardware and software”.
This new Liquid Glass design extends to all Apple products and apps. You’ll see the translucent effects on the Dock, widgets, and icons. Panes, windows, buttons and menus will be presented as translucent layers with specular highlights.
Initial feedback to the new Liquid Glass design was negative with some beta testers complaining that content wasn’t visible due to the overlaying of menus over background images, later versions of the beta dialed this back to make the menus more visible.
Of course not everyone likes Liquid Glass, and if you feel like you can’t read your notifications, read: How to reduce the Liquid Glass effect.
Apple
Apple says iOS 26 will also see design changes that simplify app interfaces to make the controls more visible. Apple is making it easier to find the tools you usually use, without the clutter of all the other features you don’t need.
Apple has adapted the interface to focus more on what is on the screen rather than cover things with tools and menu bars. Menus will shrink as you scroll to reveal the content below. Apple is also removing some of the clutter from menus to simplify things and emphasize the more frequently-used options. For example, rather than occupying a rectangular bar at the bottom of the screen, groups of controls will appear on floating elements that pop out additional controls, change as you move between views, and are tucked away when you scroll.
These changes to the menus are designed to make it easier to access the features you use most often, and discover others. Apple is trying to make iOS and its apps more intuitive.
A good example of how these design changes will be applied is the Lock Screen, which will be more adaptive. The image you choose as your wallpaper will be scaled to fit the height and width of the Lock Screen and positioned to fill the available space around elements like the time. Additionally, the wallpaper image will slide up as notifications come in.
Apple has been having trouble with some of its AI efforts, especially the Siri features that were touted at WWDC 2024. Apple had promised that iOS 18.4 would bring a major update to Siri, where it would be better at natural conversations with the user, using personal context, awareness of what is onscreen, and the ability to perform in-app actions.
Apple has since confirmed that these Siri-related features have been pushed back until 2026, which means they should come as an update to iOS 26, perhaps in March, but we could be waiting even longer.
Apple still has a number of impressive Apple Intelligence powered features in iOS 26, though. In fact, some of the new features coming to Spotlight on the Mac look like some of the features promised for Siri.
Some of these new Apple Intelligence features will make a big impact in apps, especially the Phone app, which we will discuss below. Another beneficiary of Apple Intelligence is Visual Intelligence, which was introduced in iOS 18 and gains a very useful ability in iOS 26.
Visual Intelligence in iOS 26.
IDG
In iOS 18 you can use Visual Intelligence by holding up the iPhone to view something you are curious about, triggering Visual Intelligence (via the Camera Control button if you have one, or via the Control Centre if not) and viewing information about what you were pointing the camera at. It could identify a building, or offer to add the date from a poster to your calendar, for example. That’s all very well when you are out and about, but what about when you are just browsing the web and want to know where something someone is wearing is from or where a video is being filmed?
In iOS 26 it will be possible to take a screenshot and look up information about that image and products in it using Visual Intelligence. You can also ask ChatGPT for information about the screenshot.
Apple
Also benefitting from Apple Intelligence is Genmoji, another feature that arrived with iOS 18. Genmoji lets you create custom emoji using AI. To create a Genmoji you type a description in the Describe an Emoji field and tap on Create New Emoji. You can use photos of people you know as a basis and refine the emoji until it represents what you are looking for. The emoji will then be available in your emoji keyboard to use.
In iOS 26 the Genmoji interface gets a redesign. Users will be able to mix two emoji together, or alter an existing emoji to create something new, or even combine an emoji and a Sticker (which can be created from a photo). Users will be able to further customize emoji inside Image Playground, changing expressions.
Image Playground, which is Apple’s app for making AI-generated images, arrived in iOS 18 and gets an update in iOS 26. In iOS 26 it will be possible to use ChatGPT with new styles and prompts, such as an oil painting as well as those provided by Apple to create images in Image Playground.
Foundry
With each iteration of iOS the set of apps Apple provides grows and evolves, and many of the changes coming to the apps on the iPhone are shared by those same apps on Apple’s other devices. iOS 26 is no different.
This time, some of the changes are going to be quite transformative to how you use the phone – and by which we mean the telephone aspect of your iPhone.
The phone app might not be the one we use the most, but as Apple says, it is fundamental to the iPhone. With iOS 26 the phone app is getting a big update that essentially turns it into a PA and a spam filtering tool.
Apple is tapping into Apple Intelligence to bring new Voice Mail summaries to surface the most important information, but even more exciting, it is aiming to eliminate unwanted calls with a new Call Screening option that can answer the call in the background, ask the caller to explain their reason for calling, and then provide a text summary of those details to you before you decide whether or not to take the call. Of course, this may make it harder to ignore calls from people you ought to actually speak to, but it will be a good way to siphon off spam and hoax calls from unknown numbers.
That’s not all. Another new feature is Hold Assist, which will automatically detect hold music and mute the call until it is connected to an agent. As a result, you can get things done without having to keep your phone speaker playing irritating hold music until someone answers. When an agent becomes free they will be informed that you are there and your phone will ring alerting you to the connection and you can take the call. It’s going to be like having your own receptionist.
Another change in the Phone app should make it impossible to accidentally tap on contact in the Recents list and call them. Currently, if you tap on a name in your Recents list it will automatically call that person. A new setting will allow you to turn off “Tap Recents to Call”.
Coming to the Phone app, but also present as a feature in Messages and FaceTime, is Live Translations. This will help you communicate with someone who speaks another language.
With this feature you will be able to have a conversation with some who speaks a different language to you. If you are familiar with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy this is almost at the level of having a Babel Fish.
If you are speaking to someone via the phone app, the iPhone will translate what is being said, with a spoken voice translating what has been said into your language. The recipient will also hear translations in their own language. Apparently, they don’t need to have an iPhone. The main restriction right now is that Live Translation for Phone is available only for one-on-one calls in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.
As we said above, it’s not only the Phone app that will get the Live Translation features. FaceTime and Messages will as well. And Translation is also finding its way into the Music app.
When speaking to someone via FaceTime you will see real-time captions in your own language. Live Captions aren’t entirely new to FaceTime, you can already turn on that functionality in Accessibility > Live Captions – although this only works if your language is set to English U.S.
As well as the new Live Translation feature, FaceTime also gets changes to the interface designed to surface the controls you need while keeping the caller visible. For example, controls float to the bottom right and recede when you don’t need them.
The FaceTime call list also gets a new look, with video messages autoplaying as you scroll.
Apple
If you are using Messages to communicate with someone who speaks a different language what you type is translated into their language and vice versa.
As with the phone, Messages is getting a screening tool to combat spam. On-device spam detection will give you “total control over who appears in your conversation list,” according to Apple.
It is already possible to filter out spam by using the Unknown Senders list in Messages, but in iOS 26 Messages will have a greater ability to screen for spam, and it will make sure you still receive verification codes and other critical or time-sensitive messages.
Also in Messages you will be able to add a background image to Group Chats, and a new option to create a poll will be available. Messages will even suggest a poll if a situation calls for one. Anyone can add options to the poll.
Those who have access to Apple Cash (still U.S. only) can also access this from group chats.
Apple
A small but brilliant update coming to Messages is the ability to copy parts of a text, rather than the whole thing. This is one of those incomprehensible failures of Messages on iPhone right now: the only option is to copy the entire message, paste it, and then edit out what you don’t want. When using Messages on the Mac you can just copy the part of the Message you need. It’s a long overdue feature for iPhone Messages.
Apple
In Apple Music you will be able to follow the lyrics alongside the translation into your own language. For some languages you will even see a pronunciation guide.
Also coming to the Music app is a new auto-mix option that uses AI to fade between songs and match beats like a DJ would, animated Apple Music artwork option for the Lock Screen, and interface changes that should make it faster and easier to get to the music you are into. For example, you can pin your favourite album or playlist to the top of your library.
In iOS 26, Apple has redesigned the camera app, hiding most of the lesser-used camera shooting modes and options to simplify the increasingly cramped layout and giving users quick access to settings.
In the Photos app there is the ability to add 3D effects to photos.
We have a separate article covering how to use the iOS 26 Camera app, including where to find camera modes and features, how to change capture settings and how to use AirPods as a remote.
Apple
Apple is finally tidying up the gaming experience on the iPhone with a brand-new Games app.
Apple says it is creating a new destination to help its gamers get more out of their games. The Games app offers various tabs to make finding the games you are playing or have played easier. The Home tab reveals what’s most relevant to you. The Library tab shows all the games you have ever downloaded.
There is also a Play Together tab where you can see what your friends are playing, play games with them, compare scores, and invite them to play games. You can challenge them to beat your highest score in single player games. Turning single-player games into fun competitions with friends, with scores in real time. This will be Apple’s second attempt to get users to connect socially: remember iTunes Ping? (Apple would probably rather you forgot).
Another change to gaming on iPhone (and iPad) is a new consistency to how touch controls are applied in games. Developers working on an iPhone or iPad game that requires more advanced controls have always had to design their own touch controls, and this can be inconsistent. In iOS 26, Apple will provide its own touch controls for buttons, thumbsticks, dpads, throttles, and touchpads.
Like Apple Cash, many of the new Apple Wallet features are U.S. only, such as the ability to add Drivers Licenses to Apple Wallet.
Apple says there will be more ways to pay with Apple Pay in iOS 26, for example you can redeem points or choose to pay in instalments. That feature is currently available in nine states. From the fall Apple says it will be possible to add a U.S. passport, but only for use for flights inside the U.S.
There will be a new API for developers to take advantage of, enabling them to provide customers with more information within the Wallet app, such as details of the services included with the fare and upgrade options that can be accessed from within the Wallet app.
You can also track Apple Pay orders, with Apple Intelligence finding the order details and tracking information and keeping them together for you.
The Passwords app, introduced in iOS 18, gets an update. You can check changes that you’ve made to accounts logged in the Passwords app, view previous passwords that were used for these accounts, and see when they were altered.
In addition, Apple has introduced improvements to iOS 26 that will make using passkeys easier. Passkeys is an authentication method that replaces traditional passwords with security keys and biometrics. Many apps and websites already provide support for passkeys and, with the iOS 26 update, it will be possible for iPhone and iPad apps to enable users to create a passkey with just a tap. Passkeys can be authenticated with Face ID or Touch ID, and credentials will be synchronized between your Apple devices via iCloud.
It will also be possible to pre-fill personal data, such as name and email, so you no longer have to waste time filling in long sign-up forms. Even better, iOS 26 will be able to autofill verification codes from Gmail and WhatsApp. Verification code autofill may also work in Google Chrome; currently verification codes work only with Apple’s Safari browser.
Apple
The Maps app gets an update, now using Apple Intelligence to understand your regular commutes and learn your favorites. With this information it will be able to warn you if you should take a different route due to heavy traffic.
Another change to Maps is that it can log (on your device, with encryption) Visited Places, which will make it easier to find and recall places you have been to in the past. It’s easy to delete this history, too.
In iOS 26, Reminders will suggest things such as tasks and grocery items, plus follow-ups based on your emails or other text on your iPhone, Mac, and more.
Notes will gain Markdown support.
Satellite-based reporting.
You will finally be able to set a snooze duration of between one and 15 minutes, rather than being stuck with set eight-minute snoozes!
You will also gain the ability to set alarms from inside other apps. For example, you could set an alarm from within a recipe app without you needing to open the Clock.
There are lots of other changes coming to iOS, many of which will improve the overall user experience.
Existing AirPods should get some new features due to the iOS 26 update. These include a new feature that will enable AirPods to pause when they sense the wearer has fallen asleep. Code in the iOS 26 beta indicates that this feature is tied to iOS 26, rather than the AirPods line specifically – it may even work on Apple’s Beats headphones.
In addition, it will be possible to easily switch between different audio input devices – so you could switch from AirPods as dedicated microphones to another device, for example.
iOS 26 will have a new API for running tasks in the background. So, you won’t have to keep an app open when they’re doing something important, such as uploading files or exporting a video. Users can switch to other apps without interrupting the previous task.
This feature aims to extend battery life by adjusting performance based on usage patterns. Where Low Power Mode throttles your iPhone’s performance and kills certain background activities to save energy, Adaptive Power Mode makes smaller adjustments to your iPhone’s performance based on how you use it. As a result the impact should be subtler, and potentially something users could keep on at all times.
iOS 26 will introduce a feature dubbed Battery Intelligence. This presents the estimated charging duration to reach 80% (then 100%) when connected to a charger – so you know how long you will need to change your iPhone before you can leave the house.
A new adaptive low power mode has been spotted in the iOS 26 developer beta. This doesn’t replace the regular low power mode (that’s still around) but instead uses machine learning to make adjustments that could help eke out a little more juice from your battery.
In addition, the Lock Screen will now display estimated charging times to hit 80 percent and 100 percent battery power.
Since fall 2024, Apple’s MagSafe Charger has supported up to 25W wireless iPhone charging on the iPhone 16 family. Third-party chargers—previously limited to a 15W maximum—will be able to match that speed with the release of the new Qi2 25W, which the iPhone 16 and later will support from iOS 26.
Support for RCS Universal Profile 3.0 may come in an update to iOS 26. RCS 3.0 will encrypt iPhone-to-Android messages, and offer other features to make communicating between iPhones and Android phones more seamless. Currently, Android users can edit a message within 15 minutes of it being sent – this works in iOS 18.5 and the iOS 26 developer beta but the iPhone displays the edited message as a new one with an asterisk rather than replacing the message with the edited message.
iPhone users are able to edit messages sent to other iPhones, but they are not yet able to edit RCS messages sent to an Android phone. RCS 3.0 should also make this available to iPhone users.
There also be simplified eSIM transfer from Android.
The release usually happens around the following times where most of our readers live. But note that Apple’s servers are likely to be overloaded so an early download may take a long time! If you wait a day or so the download will be faster – and Apple may have addressed any early bugs.
For help installing iOS 26 read: How to update iOS on iPhone.
We have a separate article that details how to join Apple’s beta software program. Beta development of iOS 26 will continue even after the iOS update arrives with the public, with even more new features being developed.
Anyone using the beta is encouraged to file bug reports using the included Apple’s Feedback Assistant app so that the company can address them. If you want to learn more about the beta read: What’s in the latest iOS beta and how to get it.
Apple has confirmed the following iPhones will be able to get iOS 26:
When Apple updates the operating system for its devices it often means that certain models are not compatible with the update. The iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max, which were supported by iOS 18 and launched in 2018, will miss out on iOS 26.
This doesn’t mean that those 2018 iPhones are unsupported by Apple. Apple will continue to issue security-related software updates to iOS 18 for a few more years. Read about how long iPhones are supported to find out which iPhones are no longer supported with security updates.
Nor does this mean that all the supported iPhones get all the new features. As was the case in 2024, only certain iPhones can support Apple Intelligence powered features. That’s the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max and the whole of the iPhone 16 range. This means that if your phone isn’t one of those mentioned you miss out on features such as the Visual Intelligence and Genmoji updates, as well as the Phone app ability to manage your unwanted calls.
Find out how the new iOS compares with the current version in our comparison of iOS 26 vs iOS 18: What’s different, what’s new, and should you update?
After the release of iOS 18 in 2024, Apple decided to change its iPhone operating system naming convention to match the year in which it is available. What we were expecting to be called iOS 19 was confirmed to be iOS 26 at Apple’s WWDC in June 2025.
Despite iOS 26 being released on September 15, 2025, the majority of its lifetime will be during in 2026.
iOS 26 was released on September 15, 2025.
Updates to iOS 26 will be tested with developer and public beta releases. If you wish to try these beta releases, you will need to subscribe to Apple’s beta program to access the iOS 26 Developer beta, or enroll your iPhone into the iOS Public Beta program.
If you want to downgrade from iOS 26 beta before the full version of iOS 26 is released you will need to wipe your iPhone and manually install iOS 18. If you want to downgrade from iOS 26 beta after the full version of iOS 26 is released, you can turn off Beta Updates in Settings and update your iPhone. If you are looking to downgrade from the final version iOS 26 to an older version of iOS, however, you’re probably going to be out of luck. Within days of iOS 26’s release you may be able to downgrade to iOS 18 if a signed version of the software is still available; beyond this, and for older versions of iOS, your best bet is to buy an old iPhone.
You can update a compatible iPhone by going to Settings > General > Software Update, then following the prompts. Macworld recommends backing up your iPhone before a software update. You will also need to ensure sufficient space is available on your device, and that you have plenty of battery power and are connected to a stable Wi-Fi connection.
iOS 26 is a free update for iPhone users.
All iPhones released since 2019 will support iOS 26. That means iPhone 11, iPhone SE (2nd gen), and all iPhones that followed, will be able to upgrade to iOS 26.
The biggest change in iOS 26 is a visual one, with a new Liquid Glass design language producing a translucent effect that Apple says blurs the lines between hardware and software. Also new in iOS 26 are spam-filtering features such as Call Screening and a message screening feature – just one of several upgrades to the core phone functionality, which also gets text summaries for Voice Mail, Hold Assist, and Live Translation. There’s a brand-new Games app, and Apple has done a lot of work to tidy and declutter the interface in apps such as the Camera. But this is just the start, with countless smaller tweaks and improvements to the iPhone operating system.
Apple’s Awe Dropping event on September 9, 2025 saw new hardware releases including the iPhone 17 (running iOS 26), Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3 and SE 3rd-gen (running watchOS 26), and new AirPods. Keep tuned to our Event Guide for all the latest coverage.
iOS 18 is the current version of Apple’s iPhone operating system. Below you can find information about previous iOS releases, with links to our coverage for full details. Learn more about all the new Apple products coming this year and when is the next Apple event.
Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple’s PR agency prior to joining Macworld more than two decades ago. Karen’s career highlights include interviewing Apple’s Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Having edited the U.K. print and online editions of Macworld for many years, more recently her focus has been on SEO and evergreen content as well as product recommendations and buying advice.
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