iOS 26 is finally here, and you can actually download it. After months of betas, the biggest free iPhone update in years is now rolling out to the public. In case you’ve somehow missed all the fuss, this update is a proper glow-up, that brings some of the biggest changes to Apple’s top smartphones in years. It arrives alongside iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, and some smaller updates for the Apple TV and HomePods.
If you want to install the new updates, just head into the Settings app on your device. Navigate to General, then Software Update. You’ll see the new 26 version available for your device. Note that it might take a while to download at first, with many users rushing to download it as soon as they can. Once you’ve installed the free update, you’ll get some screens that show you what’s new.
Apple’s latest software releases are headlined by the slick new Liquid Glass design that makes your phone look more like a Vision Pro than a slab of aluminium. Liquid Glass is a system-wide redesign that refracts, reflects, and generally makes everything look a bit posher. It touches everything from the Home and Lock Screens to widgets and Control Center.
There are plenty of genuinely smart features tucked inside iOS 26. The Phone app can now screen dodgy callers and sit through hold music for you. Messages gets background themes, polls, and real-time Live Translation. Apple Music adds DJ-style AutoMix, and Visual Intelligence can now spot, identify, or act on anything on your screen. It can search with Google or ChatGPT.
If you’re deep in the Apple ecosystem, iOS 26 is just the beginning. iPadOS 26 finally delivers proper multitasking with resizable windows, a customisable menu bar, and a Files app that’s starting to act like it belongs in 2025. On macOS 26, the same Liquid Glass visuals arrive alongside features like Call Screening, Live Activities in the menu bar, and a much smarter Spotlight. There’s even a new Apple Games app pretending the Mac’s a serious gaming platform.
watchOS 26 brings Liquid Glass to your wrist, but the real headline is Apple Intelligence finally arriving on the Watch. It powers features like Workout Buddy – a fitness-focused Clippy replacement for 2025 – smarter Smart Stacks, and new gestures like the brilliantly unnecessary wrist flick to dismiss notifications. Meanwhile, AirPods gain the ability to act as wireless mics for video, tap-to-snap camera controls, and clearer voice calls via Voice Isolation.
Even Apple TV’s had a turn, with Liquid Glass making it look fresher and karaoke mode letting you use your iPhone as a mic. Slightly less welcome is the new auto-popping profile screen, which feels like waking up to someone shouting your name.
All of Apple’s new software updates – iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26 – are available today as free downloads. You’ll need an iPhone 11 or newer, iPad Pro (3rd-gen or later), iPad Air (3rd-gen or later), iPad (8th-gen or later), iPad mini (5th-gen or newer), a Mac with an M1 chip or newer, an Apple Watch Series 6 or later (or SE 2nd-gen/Ultra), and an Apple TV 4K (2nd-gen or newer).
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