It’s one of the biggest days of Apple’s year, with the company’s ‘Awe dropping’ event headlined by the iPhone 17 lineup and other new hardware. On the software front, we got some good news too: iOS 26 is coming very soon.
iOS 26 gets official release date from Apple
iOS 26 was first unveiled back in June at WWDC. Since then, the forthcoming software update has been in beta testing.
After three months in beta, Apple is nearly ready to ship iOS 26 to all users.
iOS 26 will officially release on Monday, September 15.
New features include the Liquid Glass redesign, major updates to Apple Wallet, CarPlay, Messages, and much more.
It will be available to all users with a compatible iPhone model.
Supported iPhones include:
- all new iPhone 17 models
- iPhone 16e
- iPhone 16 and 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max
- iPhone 15 and 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 14 and 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 13 and 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12 and 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2nd gen and newer)
Notably, there are three omissions from this list.
iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR will not be supported by iOS 26—despite being able to run iOS 18.
Apple is still expected to ship new security fixes for unsupported iPhones occasionally, as it historically has.
But for users wanting iOS 26’s new features and the Liquid Glass redesign, you’ll need one of the many models listed above.
If you haven’t yet been running the iOS 26 beta, will you install right away when it launches? Or hold off for iOS 26.1? Let us know in the comments.
Best iPhone accessories
- AirPods Pro 2 (now only $199, down from $249)
- MagSafe Car Mount for iPhone
- HomeKit smart plug 4-pack
- 10-year AirTag battery case 2-pack
- 100W USB-C fast charging power adapter
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