It's almost time: The Apple iPhone 17 event starts today at 1PM ET — that's just hours away. If you want to follow along, you can watch the iPhone 17 launch live and follow Engadget's Apple event liveblog. In addition to the iPhone 17 lineup — including the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air — we're also expecting to see new Apple Watch models, as well as a new AirPods Pro.
Assuming Apple sticks to tradition, we should be able to install iOS 26 about a week or so after the showcase. But you don't have to wait to test out the new features, since you can download and install the newly released public beta 6 or iOS 26 developer beta 9. (See our preview of the iOS 26 public beta release for more info.) The first thing you'll notice is a new clear design language Apple dubs Liquid Glass. The translucent look can be found within apps as well as your lock and home screens. The overhaul is one of several big changes coming to iOS, macOS, iPadOS and the rest of Apple's software suite
After overpromising on AI plans last year, Apple kept its iOS roadmap focused more on basic quality of life improvements with iOS 26. There are multiple useful additions coming to the Phone and Messages apps, for instance: Apple execs outlined the ability to weed out spam texts or unknown senders and an option to hold your spot on a phone call when you've been waiting for a representative to pick up.
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It seems like additional new improvements are popping up (or at least hinted at) with each beta, such as an AirPods live translation feature and a new bouncy animation on the passcode screen and in the Control Center. Some of those changes have already migrated into the separate public beta. Most newer iPhone models are eligible to download iOS 26 (both the betas and final version). We've rounded up a full list of new features coming this fall below.
What is iOS 26?
The current iPhone operating system is iOS 18, which Apple is still actively updating — version 18.6.1 was released last month, for example, to restore Apple Watch blood oxygen monitoring functionality for certain users in the US. More recently, Apple released iOS 18.6.2 to address a vulnerability related to image processing. Apple has officially stopped signing iOS 18.6, MacRumors reports, which means it can no longer be installed on your iPhone due to a "server-side software verification check." That's pretty normal when newer versions are available to download.
But don't expect to ever see an iOS 19. Instead, Apple is skipping its naming convention ahead to iOS 26. (Apple is also expected to release iOS 18.7 at the same time, per MacRumors, to address security issues.) The company has decided to line up its iOS version numbers with a year-based system, similar to car model years. So while iOS and its sibling operating systems will be released in late 2025, they're all designated "26" to reflect the year ahead.
It's official, we're moving to iOS 26. (Apple)
What is Liquid Glass design?
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