Apple officially rolled out iOS 26 yesterday, a free software update that comes with serious changes. A complete visual redesign to new Apple Intelligence features, enhanced privacy tools, and upgrades . For those considering the iPhone 17, this update is especially relevant, since the iPhone 17 models ship with iOS 26 out of the box.
What’s New in iOS 26
These are some of the headline features in iOS 26 that everyone should know.
| Feature | What It Does | Devices |
|---|---|---|
| Liquid Glass Design | A sweeping new visual theme: translucent menus, glass-like effects, layered UI components, app icons that reflect/refract light, dynamic transparency. It gives the whole system a more “alive,” modern appearance. | All iPhone 11 and newer get this; performance and smoothness will likely be best on iPhone 17 and other recent models. |
| Lock Screen Enhancements | The clock can auto-adjust to fill unused space; full-screen animated album art appears for supported Apple Music tracks. Better personalisation. | |
| Messages & iMessage Upgrades |
• Conversation backgrounds to pick from Apple’s options or use your own. • Polls in group chats; Apple Intelligence may even suggest when a poll makes sense. • Improved group-chat features: typing indicators, “add contact” from group chat, selecting part of a message (not just copying entire messages), better handling of unknown senders. |
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| Phone App Enhancements: Call Screening & Hold Assist | Call Screening lets unknown callers give their name/reason before the call rings; Hold Assist lets your iPhone stay on hold while you do something else, then notify you when someone is ready on the other end. | |
| Adaptive Power Mode | Helps extend battery life by adjusting performance, display brightness, etc., especially under heavier usage or when battery levels are low. | |
| Preview App on iPhone | Apple has ported over a version of its Mac Preview app so you can do edits and markup of PDFs & images directly on iPhone. | |
| AutoMix in Apple Music | More advanced transitions between songs (like a DJ would fade/mix), replacing the older crossfade feature for smoother listening. | |
| CarPlay Upgrades | UI gets the Liquid Glass treatment; new capabilities like responding to messages via Tapbacks; cleaner interfaces for calls and notifications. | |
| New Apple Intelligence Features | Live Translation across Phone, Messages, FaceTime; visual intelligence (e.g. analyzing screen content); smarter suggestions; better integration of tasks across apps; more privacy-focused AI (on-device, etc.). | |
| Privacy & Security Enhancements | Features like unified layout for Favorites, Recents, Voicemails; call-screening tools; better handling of spam or unknown senders; new permissions. |
What iPhone 17 Users Gain
Since the iPhone 17 is Apple’s newest lineup, it’s designed to showcase what iOS 26 can do. Here’s how iPhone 17 owners benefit especially:
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The hardware in iPhone 17 (newer chip, better neural engine, display improvements etc.) will make the Liquid Glass animations, visual effects, and AI features run more smoothly, with less lag, less impact on battery.
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Adaptive Power Mode will particularly help on iPhone 17 to balance that visual richness vs battery life.
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iPhone 17’s launch with iOS 26 means no waiting or updating hassles you get access to everything from day one.
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Any feature that’s hardware-accelerated (AI inference, visual intelligence, etc.) will likely be more responsive on iPhone 17 compared to older devices.
iOS 26 represents one of Apple’s biggest updates in years ,a bold new UI in Liquid Glass, deeper AI-powered features, and enhancements in privacy, performance, and user experience. If you have an iPhone 17 (or plan to get one soon), there’s no reason to hold back: installing iOS 26 gives you the full experience. Just make sure to back up, ensure you have enough storage, and maybe wait a day for any hotfixes. For everyone else, this update is worth considering as soon as it’s available for your device.
