After three long months of testing, Apple is almost ready to launch iOS 26 to the public, as the company just made its Release Candidate version available to developers. While this build won’t be much different from beta 9, it’s the final test build before every compatible iPhone gets the update.
iOS 26 RC is all about the Liquid Glass design. Over the past few months, Apple has been tweaking the transparency of the UI to achieve the perfect balance between style and readability. This new design language is also available across the other operating systems, as users will find it on iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26.
For Apple, iOS 26 is all about the interoperability between its systems, so navigating iOS and then switching to iPadOS and macOS will be more seamless than ever before. The company also revamped several of its first-party apps while improving on Apple Intelligence platform.
What to expect from iOS 26 RC
After Apple failed to deliver on promise of Apple Intelligence features last year, the company was more conservative when it comes to announcing new capabilities during the WWDC 2025 keynote. Still, there are some new AI tools that will improve the iPhone user experience in this update.
For example, Apple Intelligence powered by ChatGPT in iOS 26 adds onscreen awareness, improved Visual Intelligence search, and new image creation capabilities with Image Playground. Even without ChatGPT’s assistance, Apple is introducing Live Translation, Genmoji upgrades, and a new AI-powered Shortcuts app.
iOS 26 RC is available on iPhone 11 and newer devices, while Apple Intelligence features are restricted to iPhone 15 Pro or newer. Alongside the Release Candidate version, Apple launched the final test builds of iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26. These software updates will be available on September 15.
