The major iOS update of each fall and its support set of new features have become a basic food for the user experience of the iPhone. The owners of iPhone – even those who do not follow all the latest Apple news – wait and anticipate these improvements each year. However, for those who are not on the latest generation devices, it is not always clear which New features of this year to which you will have access. Even if a device supports iOS 26, this does not necessarily mean that it will be able to perform each system functionality.
To avoid having to comb a bunch of footnotes on the Apple website or, worse, wait for this fall to find out what capacities your device will take care of, I have compiled a list of all iOS 26 features limited to more recent iPhones. Here is what you can expect depending on the model you use.
First of all, it is important to know if your device will be able to execute iOS 26. These are the iPhones for which the new version will be available:
- Line iPhone 16 (iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16th)
- Line iPhone 15 (iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max)
- Line iPhone 14 (iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max)
- Line iPhone 13 (iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max)
- Line iPhone 12 (iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max)
- Line iPhone 11 (iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max)
- iPhone SE (2nd generation and 3rd generation)
If you use an iPhone XR, iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max, you will not be able to update iOS 18 to iOS 26, because these devices have been deleted from the compatibility list this year.
The good news is that if your device do Run IOS 26, so you can certainly discover the most important element of the update: the new liquid glass design language. The new striking design – with its translucent, thinking and light refraction, its dynamic elements, and even more – arrives at older iPhones as well as more recent iPhones. (Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said for TVOS 26, which leaves my beloved Apple TV 4K of first generation on old design.)
Then, keep in mind that Apple Intelligence is still only available on the iPhone 15 Pro, the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 line (iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16th). This means that all the new features of Apple Intelligence in iOS 26 will be limited to these devices. They include the following elements:
- Visual intelligence in the UI screenshot
- Apple intelligence shortcuts (including “use model”)
- Live translation for conversations in messages, phone and facetime
- Summary of voice messages
- Suggestions suggesting in group cats
- Task suggestions to share text or a web page for reminders via the sharing sheet
- Automatic categorization of recall tasks
- Monitoring of orders based on an email in the portfolio
- The possibility of mixing several emoji in the personalized genmoji
- New styles of chatgpt image playing field
- Finer control on genmoji and image playground images based on people
- Image Playground Generated Rear Cat
It is a long list of features to which older devices will not have access. However, there are new capacities that seem to be supplied by Apple Intelligence but are not. The new word translation feature in Apple Music is not based on Apple Intelligence and will therefore be available on all iOS 26 iPhones. Also available on older devices: excellent telephone capacities such as calls for calls and Hold Assist.
Finally, there are a few new features related to the photo that will not be offered on all the devices running iOS 26. Spatial scenes, which add depth to your photos so that you can simulate looking at them from different angles when you tilt your phone, will only be available on the iPhone 12 and later. And the new index of the system that allows you to know that your camera goal needs cleaning will only be offered on the iPhone 15 and later.
And it is the iOS 26 features that will not reach older iPhones. Whatever the iPhone you use, there are still many new features in the update, such as the new game application and visited places in the cards. So stay for more our coverage of iOS 26 and other updates of the Apple operating system while we get closer to their release this fall.
