iOS 26
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iOS 26
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| Developer | Apple |
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| Announced | June 9, 2025 (WWDC25) |
| Initial release | September 15, 2025 |
| Latest release | 26.6 |
| Launch devices | iPhone 17 · iPhone Air · iPhone 17 Pro · iPhone 17 Pro Max |
| Preceded by | iOS 18 |
| Succeeded by | iOS 27 (in beta) |
| Official site for iOS | |
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iOS
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iOS 26 is the nineteenth major release of iOS and the current version, released on September 15, 2025, with the iPhone 17 generation. Its number tells its first story: Apple skipped 19 through 25, renaming every platform's annual release for the year ahead (iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and siblings) — ending two decades of per-platform version drift in one stroke.
Its second story is Liquid Glass: the largest visual redesign since iOS 7, a translucent, refractive material language in which controls, bars, and surfaces behave like layered glass — rendered dynamically, reacting to content and motion, and unified across every Apple platform for the first time. Early betas drew legibility complaints that Apple tuned down through the cycle, in a compressed replay of the iOS 7 reception arc.
1 Features✎
Beyond the redesign: a rebuilt Camera app with simplified controls; a redesigned Safari and Photos (tabs restored after iOS 18's backlash); the Phone app's biggest update ever — unified layout, Hold Assist (waiting on hold for you), and Call Screening for unknown callers; Messages polls, backgrounds, and typing indicators in groups; live translation woven through Phone, FaceTime, and Messages via Apple Intelligence; a dedicated Games app; Apple Music AutoMix; and CarPlay's widget-and-Live-Activity refresh. Point releases through 26.6 have focused on Liquid Glass refinement, performance, and the usual security tail.
2 Supported devices✎
iPhone 17/Air/17 Pro/17 Pro Max and iPhone 17e, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 generations, iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 generations, iPhone 12 generation, iPhone 11 generation, and iPhone SE 2nd/3rd — dropping iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max (the A12 floor giving way to A13). Apple Intelligence features continue to require 8 GB-class hardware.
3 Legacy✎
Still being written — but the year-number scheme and Liquid Glass are already structural: every Apple platform now shares one version identity and one material language, the most unified the ecosystem has ever been. Its successor, iOS 27, entered developer beta at WWDC26 in June 2026.