We Now Know When Apple Will Release iOS 26

The iPhone 17 is officially here. Today, Apple took the virtual stage to announce its next generation of smartphones. There were some big updates, like the ultra-thin iPhone Air and redesigned camera bump on the Pro, as well as some standard revisions, like the iPhone 17. But while Apple's new iPhones may be quite different, they all have at least one thing in common: They'll ship with iOS 26, Apple's latest and great iPhone OS, out of the box.

Apple has big plans for iOS 26, including the new Liquid Glass redesign, fresh messaging features, updates to Apple Music, among many other changes. Of course, you won't need to buy an iPhone 17 series device to run iOS 26: Apple is supporting iPhone 11 and newer with this upcoming update. iOS 26 will launch at least by the iPhone 17's release date to be in sync with the rest of Apple's iPhones.

When will iOS 26 come out?

While Apple had been pretty cagey with iOS 26's official release date, as of today, we know when it's dropping: iOS 26 will be available Monday, Sept. 15. The company confirmed that date with all of its upcoming software updates, including iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26.

Prior to this announcement, I thought Apple would drop iOS 26 on the 16th. Wccftech had made that argument, since that was the strategy last year: Apple announced the iPhone 16 on Sept. 9, then dropped the official iOS 18 update on Sept. 16. The year before, Apple deviated from this pattern slightly, releasing iOS 17 six days after unveiling the iPhone 15 series. One year before that, however, Apple followed the one-week-later pattern for iOS 16. It seems they've reverted to the strategy behind the iOS 17 timeline.

You can run iOS 26 right now

You don't actually have to wait until Apple officially releases iOS 26 to try out all these new features and changes. The company has been beta testing the software since June (though the public beta didn't launch until July), rooting out bugs and glitches to optimize the experience for the general public.

There's a risk in installing any beta on your device, since the software is not finished yet. But if you want to experience iOS 26 before most of your friends and family, the option is there. As we're inching closer to the end of the beta cycle, the risks are lower than they were when Apple was still looking out for larger bugs. Still, if you choose to install the beta on your iPhone, make sure to back up your phone to a secure source, like your Mac or PC, as you could lose your data should you need to downgrade back to iOS 18.