The previous debate of kind over perform stays true with iOS 26 and the ultimate model that launched for all iPhones as we speak. There’s all however a faint whiff of that long-promised Apple Intelligence, although you’ll nonetheless discover loads to like and extra to complain about with the change from iOS 18 all the best way to the “26” era.
Bear in mind to put aside some storage on iPhone, because the replace will demand a great chunk. iOS 26 confirmed up as 6GB for me on my iPhone 14 Professional, coming from model iOS 18.6. (Apple can also be pushing out iOS 18.7 as we speak.) Our senior editor, Raymond Wong, received the replace on his iPhone 16 Professional and famous it was 14.9GB. So your mileage will range relying in your machine and software program model.
Together with iOS 26, Apple additionally launched iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, and all the remainder. The iPhone 17 lineup, from the 17 Execs to the Air, will come preinstalled with the brand new software program replace when these new telephones launch on Sept. 19. Each Apple product now shares an analogous design language centered on the “Liquid Glass” look. The UI is filled with semi-transparent home windows and bubbles that may distort and contort textual content and pictures beneath it, as for those who had been wanting by way of a convex glass lens. It’s a way of separating the controls from the content material itself. The modifications are each refined and overt. As an illustration, the “Search” button on iPhones could mix extra into your background wallpaper. In apps like Apple Music, the “Now Enjoying” bar will show a touch of the album art work beneath it.
Liquid Glass in every single place, from iPhone to Mac
The iOS 26 launch would be the most controversial because the drastic modifications made to iOS 7 again in 2013. Customers didn’t admire having to look at brief animations earlier than entering into their apps. Many complained in regards to the UI hiding helpful buttons, making it more durable for energy customers to search out the correct instruments for the job. Regardless of the controversy, skeuomorphism—the place Apple tried incorporating extra acquainted pictures and designs, such because the battery picture representing battery life—nonetheless stays to at the present time. That brings us to now and the emphasis on “glassmorphism,” emphasizing opaque home windows for a pseudo-3D impact.
As any person who has used a number of variations of the iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 betas extensively through the beta interval this previous summer season, I appreciated some design modifications greater than others. Apple eradicating the opaque layer for the menu bar on the prime of the Mac display screen helps make the display screen really feel bigger with out sacrificing performance. Highlight has additionally been beefed as much as take actions instantly in apps like Messages with out having to click on on the icon and sort out your textual content to a recipient. The Mac is now extra related to the iPhone than ever with Stay Actions, letting you monitor iPhone notifications with out unlocking and twiddling with the machine. Clicking on these notifications additionally opens up the iPhone Mirroring, a function that was launched in final 12 months’s macOS Sequoia. It’s not all nice, nevertheless. There’s no extra Launchpad obtainable within the dock, and to carry it again you have to muck round in Terminal. As an alternative, you’re granted an “Apps” folder that’s overloaded with all of your iPhone apps along with these you put in on Mac.
macOS 26 additionally sports activities just a few extra minor additions, just like the largely ineffectual Sport Overlay. All that performance is now bedecked within the translucent layer of glass, out of your app icons to the Management Heart. The actual innovation was saved for Apple’s tablets. The iPad is now much more usable as a devoted laptop computer alternative for all of your duties. Apple added the flexibility to have a number of apps open on-screen without delay. You possibly can tile them simply by flicking them to the correct or left aspect of the display screen. If you wish to watch YouTube and sort up your notes, it’s now simpler than the earlier Stage Supervisor or dual-screen options.
iOS 26 has modified over time
Apple has fine-tuned Liquid Glass from its preliminary dev beta into the general public beta and once more for the ultimate launch. The early variations had been virtually incoherent, particularly with textual content layered over textual content. Observe-up betas dialed again a few of the glass and liquid impact for a extra “frosted glass” aesthetic. The most recent public betas honed in on the present design, the place you’ll be able to catch a touch of content material beneath menus, as if staring right into a pool of glassy water. The impact needs to evoke one thing tangible, such as you’re doing greater than scrolling pixels on a pane of glass. After months of taking part in with all the varied betas, I nonetheless would like a model of Liquid Glass that matches as much as the identify.
Common Apple customers who use their iPhone for little greater than accessing their digicam or their TikTok feeds could not perceive the hate, however the most-dedicated iPhone aficionados could develop impatient with the brand new design. Critics say Liquid Glass distracts you from the features of every app. Some builders publicly lambasted the brand new design that sticks vital performance behind hamburger menus (these three horizontal bars that open up drop-down menus). Then once more, that’s a truth of life for dwelling in Apple’s ecosystem. The corporate is extra involved with units that focus apps for particular use varieties.
Inevitably, you’ll run up in opposition to a single occasion the place the glass garbles phrases or distracts you from an vital a part of a textual content or electronic mail. In that second, you’ll want to scrap your complete train, decry Apple’s hubris, and want to change again to iOS 18. After these fleeting moments the place the uncooked hate overflows, you’ll simply hold utilizing your units the best way you at all times have.
