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Every year we get a nice little feature bump to our devices. Tech companies regularly drop end-of-year software updates to deliver new features and rethink older ones that aren’t working. Every now and again, though, we get something a big bigger. A bit bolder.
This year, Apple is delivering such an update: iOS 26 is set to the biggest update to the iPhone’s software since 2014’s iOS 7, which has served as the backbone of the operating system for a little over a decade.
Here, we’re going to break down the biggest questions we have around iOS 26. We’ll tell you how you can download the new update, which phones can actually use these new features, and whether Siri will ever get smarter.
The Biggest Questions around iOS 26
1. What’s the iOS 26 Release Date?
Apple tends to launch major upgrades to its biggest devices in the second half of the year, and this year is no different: iOS 26 is launching on 15 September, 2025.
If you’re looking to update your iPhone, head to the ‘settings’ app, then navigate to the ‘general’ tab and, finally, ‘software update’.
2. Which of Apple’s devices will support iOS 26?
While the recently revealed iPhone 17 series will undoubtedly be the star of the show for iOS 26, Apple is actually supporting devices all the way back to the iPhone 11 generation. Here’s a full list of which iPhones will be supported:
- iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 12, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, and 12 Mini
- iPhone 13, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max, and 13 Mini
- iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max, and 16e
- iPhone SE (second and third gen)
- iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air
It’s worth noting that not everything listed here will get every new feature. Everything from the iPhone 11 through to the iPhone 15 Plus will not get access to any of Apple’s new AI features, which require at least an Apple A17 Pro processor to function.
3. What is Apple’s Liquid Glass?
‘Liquid Glass’ is what Apple is calling iOS 26’s major UI refresh, and is bringing a more unified design across most of Apple’s major product lines. While Apple’s products usually follow a similar design language, they’ll now literally follow the same playbook.
The design is based largely around visionOS, though refined to create a more tactile, touch-based experience. Apple used the look and feel of rounded glass, or a droplet of water depending on how you want to look at it, as a starting point for how the OS will be interacted with.
While the concept is sound, in my testing of the iOS 26 beta, I often found the translucent aspects of the design to make some content difficult to read. I also had quite a few hitches in the experience, such as search bars, keyboards, and navigational buttons either not appearing when they were supposed to, or staying on the screen when they weren’t mean to: obscuring what I actually wanted to interact with. Granted, this was during the beta period, and we’ll have to see if Apple managed to iron out these kinks in the full release.
Apple did listen to a lot of feedback throughout the past few months of beta, changing the design to make text more legible in the various Liquid Glass panes, and, by the end of the beta period I’ve grown to quite like Liquid Glass.
One of my favourite things with the new OS is the new ways to customise how your home screen and apps appear: being able to make them appear more transparent, or bold, alongside new light and dark variants. iOS has never been a particularly customisable OS, but 26 is taking the software in a more user-friendly direction, and I like it.
4. What are iOS 26’s Biggest New Features?
Beyond the redesign, there’s quite a bit of new stuff to contend with as well. Let’s break a few of the biggest ones down Apple has said is coming this time around.
- The Messages app will now have integrated anti-spam software, keeping all the random texts you get from scammers and grifters hidden away from real, usable communications from your friends, family and colleagues.
- The Messages, FaceTime and Phone apps will now feature the ability to translate other languages in real time, helping people communicate across language barriers. This will pair up with the recently revealed AirPods Pro 3, which can translate spoken language around you into one you understand, helping facilitate communication.
- A new Games app will seek to unify the gaming experience across iOS, iPadOS and macOS – showcasing leaderboards, friends’ playtiem in games, and recommendations for titles you might be interested in.
- Shortcuts will be getting the massive addition of AI Actions, which will allow users to create commands that plug directly into a number of AI Engines.
- Apple Music will add a new option, AutoMix, which will effectively act as an AI-powered DJ: mixing songs together based on genre, vibe or artist. Plus, it’ll intelligently mess with the song’s timings to make them mix better.
It’s worth noting that while Apple has a pretty good track record when it comes to delivering features it says are coming, there’s a some pretty notable ones from last year that still haven’t appeared. In fact, let’s talk about that.
5. Is Siri Getting Smarter in iOS 26?
The big question: Is Siri finally going to dethrone other AI Assistants? No, it doesn’t appear so.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple’s chief of software Craig Federighi said the company had aimed a bit too high with its marketing of an Apple Intelligence-powered Siri, and that the tech just wasn’t ready for prime time.
Apple planned a two-stage rollout of Siri’s AI capabilities, but after a bunch of testing closed doors, the business decided that the feature didn’t meet its standards for release. As such, it’s been delayed indefinitely. There are a few slight upgrades to Siri in the new OS, such as the aforementioned ‘live translation’ feature, as well as an improved connection to ChatGPT, but Siri itself isn’t necessarily getting any more useful.
“We had something working, but as you got off the beaten path (with queries)…we weren’t able to achieve the reliability in the time that we thought initially we could get it done,” Federighi said.
By the time Apple delayed the features, it’d already been advertising them as a major component of iOS 18 and the then-upcoming iPhone 16 series. As such, Apple is currently embroiled in several class-action lawsuits regarding false advertising over its Apple Intelligence features. Whoops.
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