Apple previewed iOS 26, the subsequent model of iPhone software program, at WWDC 2025. And no, you are not studying that mistaken. It is obtained a brand new identify, look and much more. The replace to iOS 26 comes with plenty of options and enhancements that I’ve wished for a while, together with name screening.
Final yr, we obtained Apple Intelligence, and the yr earlier than that, the corporate unveiled the Imaginative and prescient Professional. This yr, Apple renamed all of its software program and made it look extra unified. It won’t sound as massive a deal as earlier WWDCs, however should you hoped Apple would speak extra about software program and fewer about AI, then this was your yr. As an alternative of getting iOS 19, Apple launched iOS 26. Usually, a brand new model of iOS comes out within the fall, however it may possibly obtain smaller updates by means of the next spring and summer time. So iOS 26 is a reference to the truth that it’s going to get minor updates by means of 2026.
The most important replace wasn’t the iOS identify change. It was Liquid Glass, a design overhaul that provides transparency and is geared toward decreasing distraction. Nonetheless, some folks’s prompt response was lower than favorable to the brand new look. I’m fascinated by what I noticed with Liquid Glass and stay up for testing it as a part of the iOS 26 beta model. However Liquid Glass did not get me as hyped as a number of the different options Apple included in iOS 26, just like the Digicam app redesign.
The theme at this yr’s WWDC is consistency — consistency when it comes to the general expertise an Apple machine proprietor has. iOS 26 is a superb instance of this as a result of it brings a complicated and up to date really feel to the iPhone’s software program.
Try my iOS 26 video, wherein I stroll you thru all the large options within the new iOS and present you a few smaller ones (some would possibly discover them mundane) that I am enthusiastic about.
iOS 26 will launch this fall and is offered now as a developer beta. The general public beta model will likely be out there in July. You want an iPhone 11 or newer to make use of iOS 26. If you wish to give it a spin earlier than it is launched, I like to recommend ready for the general public beta model and even then not working it in your essential iPhone.
