iOS 26: all the new features and compatible iPhones

If you have an iPhone and you're constantly hearing about iOS 26 and its newsYou're probably wondering if your phone is compatible, what exactly changes, and whether it's worth updating now or waiting a bit. In this guide, I'll explain everything in detail: compatible models, key features, design changes, what's only available in certain countries, and what you can do to prepare your iPhone before updating.

Apple has taken a major leap: from iOS 18 it goes directly to iOS 26, aligning the version with the year and debuting a massive redesign called Liquid Glass, plus a good handful of features Apple IntelligenceBattery improvements, apps like Messages, Camera, Photos, Safari, Apple Music, Maps, CarPlay, and even new apps like Games and Preview. If you want to have everything clear in one place, get comfortable, because we're going to review All the new features of iOS 26 and which iPhones are compatible without leaving anything out.

iOS 26 was presented at the WWDC 2025 opening keynotewhere Apple also showcased the new versions of iPadOS, MacOSwatchOS and visionOS. Since then, the developer beta has been available, the public beta will launch in the summer, and the final version is scheduled for late September, following the tradition of every year with the new iPhones.

iPhones compatible with iOS 26: full list

One of the first things you want to know is whether your iPhone is on the list. With iOS 26, Apple maintains support for models from 2019 onwardsBut there's one important catch: the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR are excluded from the update.

These are the models that can install iOS 26 officially:

• iPhone 17
• iPhone 17 Pro
• iPhone 17 Pro Max
• iPhone Air
• iPhone 16
• 16 iPhone Plus
• iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 16e
• iPhone 15
• 15 iPhone Plus
• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 14
• 14 iPhone Plus
• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13mini
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12mini
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2st generation)
• iPhone SE (3st generation)

They are explicitly excluded from the update iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XRThese devices are supported on iOS 18 but will continue to receive security patches for a while. If you have one of these, you'll have to wait a little longer or start thinking about upgrading.

Although all models on the list can install the update, not all of them will benefit from it. all advanced featuresThe most demanding Apple Intelligence features are reserved for models with the most modern chips, especially from the iPhone 15 Pro and the entire iPhone 16/16e family, along with the new iPhone 17 and iPhone Air.

Models with full support for Apple Intelligence

The most powerful AI features, such as on-screen Visual Intelligence, deep integration with ChatGPT, or certain creative capabilities, require more processor and neural engine muscleApple sets the benchmark on the latest models.

In practice, the Full Apple Intelligence updates in iOS 26 are available in:

• iPhone 16e, 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max
• iPhone Air

In these models you can take advantage of features such as real-time translation in calls and messages, contextual visual intelligence that understands what's on screen, improved integration with ChatGPT (based on GPT-5), improvements to Genmoji and Image Playground, smart suggestions in Shortcuts and Reminders, and more.

If your iPhone is compatible with iOS 26 but isn't in that group, you'll still receive The new design, improvements to apps, battery life, and securityHowever, some AI features are cut back or simply don't appear in the settings.

Liquid Glass: the new design of iOS 26

One of the biggest visual changes is Liquid Glass, a design language that abandons the absolute plane iOS 7 and later to recover some of the three-dimensionality of the first iPhones, but adapted to 2026: transparencies, glass effects, subtle reflections and fluid animations.

This new style extends throughout the entire system: floating menus, translucent buttonsbars that blur over the content, a visually lighter Control Center, and a home screen where icons can become partially transparent depending on the mode you choose (tinted, light, or dark).

Liquid Glass is also coming to macOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS, making Apple's ecosystem much more unified. Even so, Each device adapts the design to its screen and way of using it, so it is not an exact copy, but a family of coherent interfaces.

The design has generated some controversy: some love it, while others preferred the previous understated look. Apple allows partial adjustment of the visual intensity, but the overall approach is clear: This style is here to stay several years.

New lock screen and 3D effect

The lock screen receives one of the most striking improvements: now you can place a photo that It gains depth with a 3D effect. When you move the iPhone, it creates a rather impressive sense of depth.

The clock automatically adjusts for better visibility, increasing in size and adjusting its position relative to the main image, making checking the time more convenient and visually appealing. Furthermore, the Widgets and lock screen elements They adopt the Liquid Glass style, with translucent buttons and very discreet reflections.

The availability of this 3D effect is not universal: Apple limits it to iPhone 12 or laterwhere the graphics hardware ensures a smooth experience. On iPad, the feature is available on recent models such as the iPad Pro M4, 12,9-inch iPad Pro from the 5th generation onwards, 11-inch iPad Pro from the 3rd generation onwards, iPad Air M2 and later, iPad A16, and iPad mini from the 6th generation or with the A17 Pro chip.

Apple Intelligence and AI features in iOS 26

Apple's AI, under the umbrella of Apple IntelligenceiOS 26 takes it a step further. Many features already existed in iOS 18, but now they are expanded, refined, and integrated with more system apps.

Among the most powerful new features we find the real-time simultaneous translation In Messages, FaceTime, and the Phone app: you can have conversations with people who speak another language and see and hear the translation on the fly, both by text and voice.

The so-called Visual Intelligence analyzes what you have on your screen: you can select text, images, or other elements and ask it for context, explanations, related searches, or actions on that content, even in screenshots. It's a leap toward an iPhone that's much more "understood" of what you're doing at any given moment.

Apple integrates more deeply ChatGPT as an external modelAnd in iOS 26 it is already based on GPT-5. This is leveraged in features such as Genmoji and Image Playground, which improve the generation of emojis and visual creations, and in the Shortcuts app, which adds shortcuts based on AI models to automate complex tasks.

Not all of these features are available in all countries or on all models: There are regulatory limitations in the European Union and due to hardware requirements, so it's advisable to check Apple's fine print for your specific region and device.

Battery improvements and a new adaptive mode

Battery life is one of the areas where any update hurts the most. With iOS 26, Apple introduces a new adaptive power mode (Adaptive Power) for iPhone 15 Pro and later that attempts to optimize power consumption without resorting solely to limiting background processes.

This mode focuses on Reduce specific features you don't need. In every situation: screen brightness in certain scenes, camera behavior, animations, or less critical tasks, dynamically adjust based on what you're doing. It's a smarter approach than the simple traditional low-power mode.

The Battery section in Settings has been reorganized to provide more useful information: see it at a glance daily usage, last charging cycle, which apps use the most power energy, both in the foreground and background, and you can better adjust your habits.

In addition, iOS 26 improves compatibility with the Qi wireless charging on iPhone 16 and laterallowing wireless charging at 25W with third-party Qi 2.2 chargers and achieving, in theory, around 50% charge in about 25 minutes, something that was previously limited basically to the official charger.

New features in calls: spam filter, hold assistant and translation

The Phone app adapts to modern times, where we increasingly receive More commercial calls and calls from unknown numbersIn iOS 26, Apple strengthens its defense against spam.

Now you can activate a call filter that silences unknown numbers and sends them directly to voicemail, also appearing in a separate "Unknown Numbers" list. New detection tools are integrated to identify potential spam and help you decide which numbers to accept.

Another very practical function is the waiting assistantWhen you call a company and they leave you on hold with music forever, your iPhone can wait for you and notify you when a human agent answers, so you don't have to be glued to the phone for minutes on end.

The third component of smart calls is the real time translationIt integrates with Phone, FaceTime, and Messages. It allows you to translate text and voice during conversations, using Apple Intelligence. Currently, it supports languages ​​such as German, Spanish (Spain), French (France), English (United States and United Kingdom), and Brazilian Portuguese.

Messages: funds, surveys, and spam filter

In Spain, we're still very attached to WhatsApp, but Apple isn't giving up on strengthening its Messages app, which is very strong in markets like the US. iOS 26 brings... Features to make chats more customizable and useful.

Now you can assign Custom backgrounds for each conversation or groupso that when you enter a chat, you can instantly identify it by its appearance. Integrated polls are also included, ideal for coordinating plans, deciding on dates, locations, and so on without having to resort to external apps.

The search engine improves and allows queries in natural languageSo you can type something like “photos Ana sent me yesterday” and the system understands your intention. Real-time translation is now integrated into Messages, leveraging Apple Intelligence and the same set of languages ​​as in Phone and FaceTime.

Finally, a spam filter It better separates the wheat from the chaff: less annoying notifications from suspicious senders, classification of unknown numbers, and a cleaner inbox on a daily basis.

Camera and Photos: Remote control with AirPods and a new design

The Camera app has received changes designed to better take advantage of the hardware in the latest iPhones. Now, as soon as you open it, you can explicitly choose whether you want to take a photo or a videoand the interface adjusts to that choice, showing only the relevant controls.

The system is able to detect if the lens is dirty and will send you a dirt warning on the lensThis helps avoid those annoyingly overexposed photos. If you have AirPods or AirPods Pro with an H2 chip or higher, you can use them as... camera remote control, something especially useful for recording video or taking selfies from a distance.

The Photos app also takes a visual leap with a Refreshed look, Photo Library and Collections tabs Clearer images and tools to transform photos into striking 3D space scenes. Finding specific memories, people, or places is more intuitive with the new organization.

Safari changes: privacy, compact design, and improved tabs

Safari, the iPhone's default browser, continues to strengthen its commitment to privacy and system integration. In iOS 26, it adopts the Liquid Glass style, with more compact and discreet navigation bar which gives more prominence to the website you visit.

Anti-tracking protection is improved, blocking more accurately. cross-site tracking attempts by advertisers and third parties. Furthermore, the links you save on your home screen begin to behave as web applicationsInstead of being mere shortcuts to Safari, they offer a more native app experience.

Safari gains support for HDR images and top SVG iconsThis ensures pages look better on compatible screens and are more easily identifiable. It also suggests extensions that might interest you based on your usage and lets you sort open tabs by name or website—very useful when you have dozens open.

Apple Music: AutoMix, lyrics translation, and more organization

If you pay for Apple Music, you'll notice quite a few changes with iOS 26. Features like AutoMix, which creates smoother transitions between songs so your playlists play smoothly without abrupt cuts.

Song lyrics can be translated automatically, and the app tries to help you with that. pronounce better in other languagesSomething really handy if you like to sing but you're not sure about the original phonetics.

You can also pin featured playlists to the top, create folders to better organize your playlists and enjoy a new music widget on your lock screen. Plus, if you use karaoke mode on Apple TV, your iPhone can act as a microphone for a more immersive experience.

Maps: visual changes and smart saving of places

Apple Maps continues to evolve to keep up with other services. With iOS 26, it adopts the Liquid Glass design and changes the way it displays information. Show us your favorite spots and places you want to visitmaking them more accessible from the main interface.

During step-by-step navigation you can report accidents, incidents or other changes Along the route, helping to keep information up-to-date for all users. Voice controls are simplified, replacing old volume buttons with a more consistent, unified panel.

Apple introduces a feature called Places VisitedThis feature automatically creates a selection of frequently visited sites for quick retrieval. However, due to regulatory issues, this feature is not available in Spain or the rest of the European Union, where you can only manually save your favorite locations and view your search history.

New Games app: Apple Arcade, progress and social component

The iPhone has long been, de facto, a extremely powerful portable consoleAnd Apple wants to reinforce that idea with a dedicated app called Games, which debuts in iOS 26 and also appears in iPadOS and macOS.

This app brings together everything related to your games in one place: you see the Apple Arcade catalog, your installed games, special events, challenges and activities linked to your favorite titles.

It also recovers a social component: you can See what your contacts are playing, compare achievements, join multiplayer games and track your progress. It also functions as a central game manager, whether your games come from the traditional App Store or Arcade.

Preview comes to iPhone: PDFs and images under control

Preview, one of macOS's flagship apps for documents and PDFs, is finally coming natively to the iPhone and iPad with iOS 26, greatly expanding the possibilities beyond the Files app.

With this app you can Open and view PDFs and images in common formats such as JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF or BMP, and work with them without having to resort to third-party tools.

Includes the option of scan documents with the cameraApply automatic cropping, filters, and save as PDFs, which is perfect for various types of paperwork. Once in PDF format, Preview allows you to highlight, underline, strikethrough text, remove backgrounds, and make minor adjustments.

Another important advantage is the possibility of fill out and sign PDF forms From your iPhone, you can also password-protect files or convert between image formats. If you work a lot with documents, this app becomes an almost indispensable tool.

CarPlay: redesigned and more driving features

CarPlay also receives its dose of new features with iOS 26, adding the Liquid Glass design and adopting a lighter and more adaptive interface for each car screen.

The Messages app in CarPlay gets a makeover: it now supports Replies with emojis and highlights important conversationsThis is useful when you want to quickly locate a chat while keeping your eyes on the road.

The calls are now displayed in a compact mode that takes up less spaceAnd CarPlay gains live activities and a dedicated widget screen, so you have key information at hand without navigating through too many menus.

Maps within CarPlay support multi-finger multi-touch gestures, and if the vehicle is parked you can Play video via AirPlay directly on the car's screen. In addition, the system adjusts text and image size according to your vehicle's screen resolution and format, and adds a karaoke mode that displays song lyrics in the style of Apple Music Sing.

Other new features scattered throughout iOS 26

Beyond the big headlines, iOS 26 comes loaded with small changes in many applications which, added together, make the system feel more complete.

The Shortcuts app integrates AI models to create more powerful automations and adds specific actions linked to Apple Intelligence. Notes can now export directly in Markdown format and generate 3D graphs from equations with three variables.

Reminders relies on Apple Intelligence to reorganize lists, suggest tasks and conceptsPodcasts also includes more options to speed up or slow down playback and to improve voice clarity by reducing background noise.

New features are also arriving, such as Custom ringtones for calls from the Files appNew default ringtones, finer control over iCloud Drive syncing with mobile data, password history in the Passwords app to view changes and old passwords, and the ability to snooze alarms between 1 and 15 minutes.

Among other details, iOS 26 facilitates direct connections between two devices via Wi-Fi even without an internet connection, and Dictation is improved enough to allow you spell complex words when the system does not recognize them correctly.

iOS 26 features that are not coming to Spain and the EU

As happened in iOS 18 with iPhone mirroring on Mac and certain Live Activities, in iOS 26 there are Features that will not be available in Spain nor in the rest of the European Union due to regulatory and strategic issues.

In addition to the aforementioned function of Places Visited on Apple MapsApple also limits some Wallet app improvements to markets like the United States, which only works outside the EU and automatically creates collections of frequent sites.

Among those exclusive features are the Pay in installments in physical stores with Apple Pay, sending and receiving money between users within group chats using Apple Cash, or live activities that show updated information about your boarding passes and flights, initially focused on companies in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Another striking feature that remains in US territory is the possibility of create a digital identity document from the passport within the Wallet app. In Europe, at least for now, we will continue to rely on physical documentation or country-specific solutions.

iPadOS 26 and iPad compatibility

Alongside iOS 26 comes iPadOS 26, with many shared new featuresLiquid Glass, Apple Intelligence on models with sufficient chip, the Preview app, improvements in multitasking and file management with Files and other utilities.

Apple maintains an extensive list of iPads compatible with iPadOS 26, what includes:

• iPad Pro (M4)
• iPad Pro 12,9” (3st generation or later)
• iPad Pro 11” (1st generation or later)
• iPad Air (M3 and M2)
• iPad Air (3rd generation or later)
• iPad (A16)
• iPad (8th generation or later)
• iPad mini (A17 Pro)
• iPad mini (5th generation or later)

As with the iPhone, general compatibility doesn't guarantee you'll have it. all the most advanced featuresFull Apple Intelligence is reserved for iPad with M1 chip or higher and for the iPad mini with A17 Pro, while other models get some of the new features.

iOS 26 adoption rate and why some aren't upgrading

Apple has shared official data on iOS 26 adoption on iPhones. Of the devices that can install it, around one 74% have already made the leapWhereas if you look at all active iPhones (including incompatible ones), the percentage drops to 66%.

In the case of the iPad, the figures are somewhat lower, as is usually the case: around one 66% of compatible iPads has updated to iPadOS 26, and 57% if all active iPads are counted. Users here tend to be more conservative and take longer to install major updates.

Compared to iOS 18, which had around 76% adoption among compatible iPhones at the same point in the cycle, iOS 26 is slightly lower, but not as much as some studies suggested. According to Apple, There is no internal concernThe pace is very similar to other years.

Why do some people not update? The usual reasons are: fear of losing performance or battery lifeThere's some reluctance towards the new Liquid Glass design (though this can be mitigated), and simply a lack of awareness that a new version is available. Apple is confident that future versions, such as iOS 27, will continue to refine performance and improve the numbers.

How to find out which iPhone you have and which version of iOS you're using

Before making the jump to iOS 26, you might want to check exactly what iPhone model you have and what version of iOS you're currently running, especially if you have any compatibility concerns.

To do this, simply go to Settings> General> InformationThere you'll see the device name, model number, and installed iOS version. With that information, you can compare it to the iOS 26 compatibility list and decide if your iPhone is included in Apple's plans.

Also remember that the Available features depend on your region, language, and carrier.Apple maintains an official availability page that details which iOS and iPadOS features are activated in each country, something especially important in Latin America and Mexico, where there may be differences compared to Europe or the United States.

How to update your iPhone to iOS 26 step by step

If your iPhone is compatible and you're eager to try out all these new features, the update process is quite simple. Even so, it's advisable to follow a few guidelines. preliminary steps to minimize risks before you launch.

The first thing is to make a recent backupThis can be done either in iCloud or on a computer (iTunes on macOS Mojave or earlier, Finder on newer macOS, or the Apple Devices app on Windows). This way, if something goes wrong, you can restore your iPhone without losing any data.

Next, make sure you have sufficient storage spaceLarge updates can easily require 10 GB of free space. If you're short on space, you can delete unused apps, large photos or videos, or let the system temporarily uninstall less frequently used apps during the update process and reinstall them later.

It is also recommended that your iPhone be connected to a stable WiFi network and have at least 50% battery, or better yet, be plugged into a power outlet while updating. This prevents the download or installation from being interrupted midway.

Once prepared, the path is the same as always: go to Settings> General> Software updateThe iPhone will search for available versions on Apple's servers, and when iOS 26 appears, you can tap Download and Install, or choose the option to update overnight while the device is charging.

During the update you will notice that the iPhone It gets hotter than normal And the battery drains a little faster. That's normal: the system is reindexing, optimizing apps, photos, internal data, and so on. Apple warns that performance and battery life may be slightly unusual for the first 24-48 hours, but then everything returns to normal.

Once the process is complete and the iPhone restarts a couple of times, you will see the iOS 26 welcome screen And you can start experimenting with the new design and features. From there, it's up to you to decide whether you fully explore the Apple Intelligence functions, fine-tune Liquid Glass to your liking, or simply enjoy the quiet improvements in battery life, security, and everyday apps.

With everything it brings to the table, iOS 26 positions itself as one of those versions that truly changes the iPhone user experience: Redesigned, smarter, better battery management, and refined key apps and fairly broad compatibility to extend the life of many devices; if your iPhone is on the list, sooner or later you'll have to try it, and you probably won't want to go back.