iOS 26 superguide: What’s coming in the new iPhone update and when it will arrive

Macworld

iOS 26: Summary

Apple has confirmed it is switching its iOS naming convention to match the year of release. Confusingly, the next version of iOS will be known as iOS 26, despite its anticipated September 2025 release date.

iOS 26 is out now in both Developer and Public Betas. The final version is widely tipped to be announced during an Apple event on September 9. Following this event, Macworld expects iOS 26 to be made available to the public on September 15.

All iPhones released since 2019 will be able to install iOS 26, including iPhone 11, iPhone SE (2nd gen) and later.

With its new ‘Liquid Glass’ interface, iOS 26 will see the biggest design change since iOS 7 in 2013.

iOS 26 puts the ‘Phone’ back in iPhone, with Voice Mail summaries, Call Screening, Hold Assist, and Live Translations.

During its WWDC keynote on June 9, Apple confirmed that iOS 26 would be coming later this year. Since then, we’ve seen both Developer and Public Betas of the upcoming software made available for testing, giving us greater insight into what to expect from the next iPhone operating system.

We’re now just weeks away from the public release of iOS 26. Apple’s big September event in which it will announce iPhone 17, Apple Watch Series 11 and, oh yes, iOS 26, will likely happen on September 9, and iPhone users could get their hands on iOS 26 as soon as September 15.

For those of you who were expecting an iOS 19 announcement, know that there’s lots more than a new naming convention to get excited about in iOS 26: not only does it 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. 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 message rather than the whole thing.

In this article we will cover everything you need to know about iOS 26–when it’s coming, which iPhones are supported, how you can get iOS 26 now, what changes can be expected, and more. Read on to see what’s in store for iPhone (11 and later) users this September.

At a glance: What to expect from iOS 26

Here are just some of the new features you will find in iOS 26, with more detailed further down this article:

Liquid Glass graphical user interface: A new translucent effect that mimics glass, with elements reflecting background content, and resizing to fit around onscreen items. Apple says Liquid Glass will blur the lines between hardware and software, and feel more like interactions in the physical world, with elements dynamically reacting to your touch.

Updated Phone app: New to this core iPhone app are Apple Intelligence-generated Voice Mail text summaries, Call Screening for spam calls, Hold Assist for connecting you only when you are #1 in the queue, and Live Translations for real-time audible translations in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish (also available for FaceTime with translated live captions, Messages with auto-translated texts, and Apple Music with lyrics converted to your native language).

Apple Intelligence updates: Spanning Visual Intelligence, which now supports screenshots, and lets you ask ChatGPT for more information about the information and products shown in the picture, Genmoji, in which you can edit existing emoji, combine emojis and Stickers, and even change emoji expressions, and Image Playground, with support for ChatGPT styles and prompts.

Camera app overhaul: As with many iOS apps, the currently cramped Camera interface is getting simplified, with many of the less frequently used shooting modes and options tucked away. Plus, you can now add 3D effects to photos.

New Games app: A Home tab puts games Apple thinks you’ll like at your fingertips; a Library tab shows all games you’ve ever downloaded; and a Play Together tab shows you what your friends are playing, compare scores, and even challenge them. iOS 26 brings a standard set of touch controls for buttons, thumbsticks, dpads, throttles, and touchpads, too.

Some of the more overlooked new features in iOS 26 that are set to make a big difference include the ability to (finally!) create your own ringtone, an intelligent Adaptive Power mode that makes performance adjustments based on how you actually use your phone, and the ability to use AirPods as a high-definition microphone when shooting video.

Newsflash: It’s iOS 26, not iOS 19!

The upcoming iOS version will be known as iOS 26, not iOS 19 as previously anticipated. In 2025, Apple is breaking with tradition and switching to a simpler naming convention that relates to the year, rather than a sequential number. It has chosen 26 rather than 25 because iOS 26 will not launch until late 2025, and will be the current iPhone operating system until late in 2026. Apple is using this new numbering system for all its 2025 operating system releases, including the next iPadOS update, macOS Tahoe, and the new watchOS.

@macworld.com iOS 26 makes the iPhone a better…phone? #wwdc #iphone #fyp ♬ original sound – Macworld – Macworld

iOS 26 design and interface changes

New Liquid Glass design language.

General decluttering and simplifying of the interface and app menus.




Apple

The biggest change in iOS 26 is a visual one: a bold new redesign known as Liquid Glass.

What is 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 effect 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 have dialled this back to make the menus more visible.

iOS 26 interface changes 




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 is adapting 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 emphasise 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 Intelligence in iOS 26

New Siri AI features not expected until later in 2026.

Improvements still expected for Visual Intelligence, Genmoji, and Image Playground at release.

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 had a number of impressive Apple Intelligence powered features to show off at WWDC 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




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. 

Genmoji




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 is getting 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 customise emoji inside Image Playground, changing expressions.

Image Playground

Image Playground, which is Apple’s app for making AI-generated images, arrived in iOS 18 and is getting an update in iOS 26. In iOS 26 it will be possible to use ChatGPT styles and prompts, such as an oil painting as well as those provided by Apple to create images in Image Playground.



Overhauled Phone app in iOS 26 

Call Screening answers the call, finds out why they are calling, and lets you know before you decide whether or not to take the call.

Hold Assist stops you needing to sit in a queue to be connected with an agent.

Voice Mail text summaries quickly surface the most important details of missed calls.

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 upcoming changes are going to be quite transformative to how you use the phone – and by which we mean the telephone aspect to the 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”.



Live Translations in iOS 26

Real-time voice translations in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Translated Live Captions in FaceTime video calls.

Automated translations in Messages.

Lyrics in your language in Apple Music.

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.

FaceTime translations

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. 

Messages translations




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 Music lyric translations




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.



Overhauled Camera & Photos apps in iOS 26

Redesigned Camera app hides away less common shooting modes to declutter the interface.

Quick access to more common settings.

Add 3D effects to photos.

In iOS 26, Apple is redesigned 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 will be 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.



New Games app in iOS 26

Find games that are perfect for you.

Quickly discover all your previously played games.

Challenge friends to battle.

More consistent touch controls across games.




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 will offer 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 coming 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.



More app changes in iOS 26

Apple Wallet

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. 

Passwords

The Passwords app, introduced in iOS 18, is getting 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.

Passkeys

In addition, Apple is introducing 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.

Autofill

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 Maps 




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 (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. 

Reminders

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

Notes will gain Markdown.

Weather

Satellite-based reporting.

Clock

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.



New features in iOS 26

There are lots of other changes coming to iOS, many of which will improve the overall user experience.

AirPods: Pause Media When Falling Asleep

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.

Running tasks in the background

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.

Adaptive Power Mode

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.

Battery Intelligence: AI-powered battery management

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.

RCS Universal Profile 3.0 and other Android ‘friendly’ features

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.



iOS 26 release date

First seen at WWDC on June 9, 2025.

Announcement of final version expected September 9, 2025.

Likely available to download on September 15, 2025.

iOS 26 isn’t out yet, at least not for the general public. It will be available to install on compatible iPhones in September. This will likely happen shortly after the September 9 event and the launch of the iPhone 17 and new Apple Watches – we predict September 15, 2025.



iOS 26 Beta release date

Latest Developer Beta: Version 6 second release, August 14, 2025.

Latest Public Beta: Beta 3 August 14, 2025.

You don’t have to wait until the full release to try out the new software. Apple runs a developer beta and a public beta for those who want to try out the new features before they are released to the general public. Both betas are free, though the developer beta requires a free registration as a developer.

The first version of the iOS developer beta was released following the WWDC keynote, so developers could immediately begin testing it with their products. This beta is not stable and there were reports of issues from those who installed it straight away. Apple updated the first developer beta a few days after the launch. As of August 14, the developer beta is in version 6.

Apple released the first Public Beta on July 24. It corresponds with the second release of Developer Beta 4 (build 23A5297m). Version three of the public beta arrived on August 14.

Between WWDC and the official release in the fall, Apple will release a string of beta releases, typically eight or so in total. We have a separate article that details how to join Apple’s beta software program so you can test the new software as soon as the beta arrives.

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. Also make sure you read why we advise against installing the iOS beta as well as why you shouldn’t install the iOS 26 public beta yet.



iOS 26 supported devices

iOS 26 is a free software update for iPhone 11 and later.

The iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max will miss out on iOS 26.

Apple has confirmed the following iPhones will get iOS 26:

iPhone 16e (2025)

iPhone 16/16 Plus/16 Pro/16 Pro Max (2024)

iPhone 15/15 Plus/15 Pro/15 Pro Max (2023)

iPhone 14/14 Plus/14 Pro/14 Pro Max (2022)

iPhone SE (3rd gen) (2022)

iPhone 13/13 mini/13 Pro/13 Pro Max (2021)

iPhone 12/12 mini/12 Pro/12 Pro Max (2020)

iPhone SE (2nd gen) (2020)

iPhone 11/11 Pro/11 Pro Max (2019)

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?



iOS 26 FAQ

FAQ
1.
What happened to iOS 19?

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.

2.
Why is it called iOS 26 and not iOS 25?

Although iOS 26 will be released in September 2025, the majority of its lifetime will be during in 2026.

3.
When does iOS 26 come out?

The final version of iOS 26 will be confirmed at Apple’s annual September event. The date has not been confirmed, but it is widely expected to take place on September 9, 2025. Macworld expects the then out-of-beta iOS 26 to be made available to the public on September 15, 2025.

4.
How do I get the iOS 26 beta?

Developer and Public betas of iOS 26 are currently available. If – against our advice – you wish to try iOS 26 in beta, 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. Following the release of iOS 26 to the public, you will continue getting beta updates unless you remove the iOS 26 beta.

5.
How do I downgrade from iOS 26?

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.

6.
How do I update to iOS 26?

When iOS 26 is made available to the public in September, you will be able to 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.

7.
How much will iOS 26 cost?

iOS 26 is a free update for iPhone users.

8.
Which iPhones support iOS 26?

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.

9.
What is new in iOS 26?

The big 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.

iOS history

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.

iPhone OS 1 – Released June 29, 2007 (Latest 1.1.5 July 15, 2008)

iPhone OS 2 – Released July 11, 2008 (Latest 2.2.1 January 27, 2009)

iPhone OS 3 – Released June 17, 2009 (Latest 3.2.2 August 11, 2010)

iOS 4 – Released June 22, 2010 (Latest 4.3.5 July 25, 2011)

iOS 5 – Released October 12, 2011 (Latest 5.1.1 May 7, 2012)

iOS 6 – Released September 19, 2012 (Latest 6.1.6 February 21, 2014)

iOS 7 – Released September 18, 2013 (Latest 7.1.2 June 30, 2014)

iOS 8 – Released September 17, 2014 (Latest 8.4.1 August 13, 2015)

iOS 9 – Released September 16, 2015 (Latest 9.3.6 July 22, 2019)

iOS 10 – Released September 13, 2016 (Latest 10.3.4 July 22, 2019)

iOS 11 – Released September 19, 2017 (Latest 11.4.1 July 9, 2018)

iOS 12 – Released September 17, 2018 (Latest 12.5.7 January 23, 2023)

iOS 13 – Released September 19, 2019 (Latest 13.7 September 1, 2020)

iOS 14 – Released September 17, 2020 (Latest 14.8.1 October 26, 2021)

iOS 15 – Released September 24, 2021 (Latest iOS 15.8.3 July 29, 2024)

iOS 16 – Released September 12, 2022 (Latest iOS 16.7.10 August 7, 2024)

iOS 17 – Released September 18, 2023 (Latest iOS 17.7.2 November 19, 2024)

iOS 18 – Released September 16, 2024 (Latest iOS 18.6 July 29, 2025)

iOS 26 – Coming September, 2025