APPLE is about to roll out a major iPhone upgrade that millions of customers can claim.
The new iOS 26 update brings loads of free features to your mobile, but it’s technically not out until September – unless you skip the queue.
5
Before Apple hands out iOS 26 to everyone, it’ll test the update through a “Public Beta”.
Back in June, Apple confirmed that this would take place “next month” i.e. July.
That means there are just days left for Apple to start dishing out the public beta to anyone who signs up.
Apple’s iOS 26 makes a huge number of changes to your iPhone, including a major redesign called Liquid Glass.
This gives your entire iPhone a glossy (and glassy) new look with translucent icons and menus.
But the iOS update also adds some clever new features, including real-time language translation for texting, phone calls, and FaceTime.
That means you can talk to someone who doesn’t speak the same language as you – and you’ll understand each other perfectly.
There’s also a new Hold Assist feature that will use a robot to wait on calls for you, and then alert you when the customer support person has picked up.
As well as that, there’s a Call Screening feature that will use a bot to vet unknown callers before they get through to you.
The robot voice will answer the phone, then ask the caller who they are and what they want.
As the caller answers the question, their words will be transcribed on your screen in real-time. That way, you can decide whether to pick up or ignore it.
It’s an easy way to dodge spam (and potentially scam) calls.
GET IOS 26 ON YOUR IPHONE EARLY
So you’re sold on the new update, but how do you actually get it?
The answer for most people is to just wait around until September, when it’ll turn up in Settings > General > Software Update.
5
The exact details haven’t been confirmed by Apple, but we’ve previously predicted the official iOS 26 release date as Monday, September 15.
If you want it early, you can sign up to the public beta.
Rumours suggest that could arrive as soon as Wednesday, July 23 – but at the very least, Apple has said that it’ll be out in July.
To join the public beta, just go to Apple’s beta website, sign in, and register for it here.
IOS 26 SUPPORTED DEVICES – THE FULL LIST
Here are the iOS 26 supported devices…
- iPhone 16e
- iPhone 16
- iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro
- iPhone 16 Pro Max
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (3rd gen)
- iPhone SE (2nd gen)
Picture Credit: Apple
5
Once you’ve been approved for the beta, you’ll be able to find it as a secondary update option in Settings > General > Software Update.
If there’s a new beta update, that’s where you’ll be able to claim it.
I-CAREFUL
But remember: beta tests are meant to be for trialling new software to help Apple squash bugs.
For a start, that means that you should think about submitting your thoughts using the built-in Feedback Assistant app, which you’ll find on your iPhone.
5
Secondly, using beta software means that you might experience bugs – and very serious ones.
Apple recommends backing up your iPhone before installing the beta so that you don’t lose anything.
And keep in mind that you might find some features not working properly, or that your battery life is worse than usual, or some other strange problem entirely.
Apple has already been testing out iOS 26 on developers so there’s a good chance that the beta is running pretty smoothly by this stage – but sadly there’s no guarantee it’ll be great for you.
5
So if you have a spare iPhone that’ll run the beta, consider using that instead.
WAIT, IOS 26? AREN’T WE ON IOS 18?
You’re not going crazy – here’s what happened, via The Sun’s tech editor Sean Keach…
Some of you might be confused as to why we’re talking about iOS 26.
After all, if you have a relatively recent iPhone, it’ll probably be running iOS 18.
And like you, I was also expecting Apple to show off iOS 19 this year.
But at the company’s big WWDC event in June, Apple revealed that it was skipping a load of software versions to catch up with the year that we’re in.
So iOS 26 will come out in 2025 (stay with me here), because it’ll mostly be used in 2026.
Then in late 2026, iOS 27 will likely be released – and will probably run through to September 2027.
The idea is to make it all a bit less confusing.
After all, we were expecting iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16, tvOS 19, watchOS 12, and visionOS 3. That, frankly, would’ve been a mess.
So now we’ve got iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26. Much cleaner.
It should mean you know exactly what’s coming next on all devices, and whether you’re running the latest version.
And it means if you have multiple Apple devices, you’ll know that your iPhone and your MacBook are on the same year of software at a glance.
Picture Credit: Sean Keach
