Apple announced iOS 26 at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, and the tech giant has since released multiple beta versions of the software. Those versions bring new features, like a Liquid Glass design and call screening to block spam callers, to the iPhones of developers and beta testers. You can expect many of those capabilities to land on your iPhone soon.
Apple said it will release the update to the general public this fall, which is good but not the most helpful timeframe. But if we look at past Apple events in September and earlier iOS releases, a pattern emerges. Apple usually releases iOS versions a few days after the company's September event and we should expect that to hold this year.
Apple is historically tight-lipped about new products and releases but I was right about iOS 18's release in 2024 and iOS 17's release in 2023, so let's see how long I can keep this streak going.
When is Apple's September event?
iOS 26 will introduce a new Liquid Glass design to your iPhone. Photo by Daniel Romero on Unsplash
For more than a decade, Apple has consistently held events every June and September. The company might have other special events in March (see 2022) or October (see 2021) but its June and September events happen every year like clockwork. Apple hasn't announced when its September event will be but we can take hints from past events.
In the past 10 years, Apple has held the September event as early as Sept. 7 and as late as Sept. 14. The company has held its event most often on Tuesday (six times), followed by Wednesday (thrice) and Monday (once). We also see that most of these events are held in the second full week of September.
With that information in mind, I'm expecting Apple to hold its September event on Tuesday, Sept 9. And we don't usually have to wait long after the September event for iOS updates to be released.
Why will Apple release iOS 26 shortly after the event?
Apple doesn't usually announce the release of iOS versions, but it does stick close to a script from year to year.
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