Apple has officially unveiled iOS 26, and it’s one of the most significant overhauls to the iPhone experience in years. The update, arriving this fall alongside the iPhone 17 lineup, introduces a striking new design language known as Liquid Glass. However, not all devices will benefit—Apple is ending support for the iPhone Xs and iPhone XR, signaling a new era focused on modern hardware.
At the heart of iOS 26 is the Liquid Glass aesthetic. It replaces flat, static visuals with dynamic, translucent layers that react to user interaction and device movement. This immersive design refresh affects everything from the Control Center to lock screens and notifications, offering a more refined and fluid interface across the system.
Beyond the visuals, iOS 26 enhances user productivity and customization. The lock screen now adapts dynamically based on notification volume, while new transparent icons and parallax wallpapers give users a deeper sense of immersion. This design approach is consistent across Apple’s ecosystem, including macOS, iPadOS, and watchOS.
The Camera app gets a major usability boost, with stills and video modes now cleanly separated and additional options like panorama and portrait accessible via intuitive gestures. Safari also receives a minimalistic facelift, adopting full-screen content display and translucent UI elements for a distraction-free browsing experience.
A major highlight of iOS 26 is Call Screening, which uses on-device Apple Intelligence to identify unknown callers and summarize voicemail content before you even answer. If a call goes on hold, iOS 26 will detect when a live agent joins and notify you—no more listening to hold music indefinitely.
In Messages, iOS 26 adds spam filtering for unknown senders, poll creation in group chats, and dynamic backgrounds powered by Apple Intelligence. Users can also send and request Apple Cash without leaving a thread.
The AI-powered Live Translation feature works across FaceTime, Messages, and phone calls, offering real-time translations with complete privacy thanks to on-device processing. Visual Intelligence also expands, allowing users to act on screen content through features like image searches, event extraction, or third-party app actions with the help of ChatGPT.
Genmoji and Image Playground enable users to create custom emojis and illustrations in various art styles like vector, watercolor, and anime. This personalization is powered by Apple Intelligence and integrates deeply into messaging apps.
In Apple Music, AutoMix blends songs seamlessly using AI, while Lyrics Translation and Pronunciation help users follow along with foreign-language music. Meanwhile, Apple Maps now suggests optimal routes by analyzing traffic and road closures in real-time.
The new Apple Games app tracks all installed games, introduces multiplayer challenges for solo titles, and connects friends through scoreboards and achievements.
iOS 26 will roll out officially this September. Supported devices include iPhone 11 and newer, with developer betas already available. With powerful new features and a bold new interface, iOS 26 cements Apple’s focus on design, intelligence, and performance—while marking the end of the road for older models like the Xs and XR.
