Apple will release a major new free update for the iPhone that will dramatically change how it looks.
The new version of the iPhone operating system – now known as iOS 26, after Apple changed the naming system to follow years – will arrive later this year.
It brings a new look called “Liquid Design” that will be reflected across Apple’s products, on the Mac and the iPad as well as the iPhone itself.
It also brings a host of other new updates: live translation tools for phone calls and messages, visual intelligence that can scan things that are on screen, and more.
An early beta version of the software is available for developers now. Anyone can sign up to Apple’s developer programme, and download that new software.
It will then be made available through Apple’s public beta programme later this month. Details on signing up for and downloading that update can be found on Apple’s website.
It will then be fully released to the public later this year, in the autumn. It usually arrives alongside the launch of the new iPhone, which tends to happen in September.
The update will require a iPhone 11 or later. That means that the only devices that could install last year’s update but will not get this one’s are the iPhone XR and XS, which were released in 2018.
Some features – those that are branded as part of Apple Intelligence – require newer devices.
