is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.
Apple has officially released the first public betas for its next major software updates. The list of new betas includes iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26, and we have more information here about how to go about installing them on eligible devices.
You can see the water droplet look of UI elements in iOS 26.
The biggest thing you’ll notice about the software updates is that they have a new design language Apple is calling “Liquid Glass.”
The design language is inspired by visionOS and, as the name implies, features a lot of transparency. I felt it was a wild change to my iPhone when I tried the first developer beta, and Apple has already tweaked some of the translucency and changed how Control Center looks in subsequent betas.
The new operating systems also have an updated numbering scheme: they now all end with 26, taking cues from how the car industry names its cars after the following year. It’s a simpler and better system, if you ask me, and it should make it easier to know if you’re on the newest software.