I didn’t think I would talk about iOS 26 before the year 2032, but we are there. At WWDC 2025, Apple will probably announce the last update of iPhones, with new features and a new denomination scheme.
We will not know for certainty what Apple provides until they officially announce it, but there are reasons to believe that certain leaks and rumors are correct. I followed these leaks and these rumors closely because they have flowed, and I have a good idea of what to expect with iOS 26. Not all rumors are winners – cough in all coughs, intelligence Apple – but there are others for whom I am really excited. Here are six of the features which, I hope, will really be at iOS 26.
RCS end -to -end encryption
RCS support was probably my new favorite feature of the IOS 18 era. For the first time since the launch of iMessage in 2011, iPhones and Android could send native SMS without using SMS. Bubbles can always be green, but at least group cats are intact.
However, a large perk RCS has disappeared since its launch on iOS: encryption. Although RCS currently supports high quality images and videos, your messages sent with this protocol are as unprotected as on SMS. End -to -end encryption (E2EE) ensures that only the devices involved in the cat can decrypt and read the messages sent. No one else, not even Apple, can read E2EE. This is a disappointment, because RCS supports encryption (even if even Android devices must also manage certain quirks here).
Fortunately, we know that E2ee arrives on RCS on iPhone – we just don’t know exactly when. Apple confirmed in March This RCS encryption is on the way “in future software updates”, which could mean iOS 26, but also iOS 26.1 or any other number of updates. Personally, I hope it is as soon as possible.
Translate live for AirPods
Imagine this: you talk to someone who speaks a language you don’t have. But while they speak, you hear their words translated into your tongue in your ear. It looks like the future, but it is the present – and it could come to Airpods.
It is according to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, who reported in March that some AirPods models would obtain this functionality of “translating live”. While Apple apparently tries to keep this feature as secret as possible, Gurman says that Iirpods translated the words of your conversationalist in your ears, while your iPhone will trace your words in the language of the other person.
And in fact, the functionality is nothing new: Google pixel buds have had a live translation for years At this stage, via conversation mode in the translate application. It works in the same way that Gurman describes Apple’s vision, so there is a clear precedent here. However, I would like this feature to be really shipped with iOS 26.
A new look for iOS
If you know something on iOS 26, you may know that Apple is planning a visual overhaul for the iPhone. If the rumors are true, the modifications go beyond the mobile device: Apple would work on a change of design on all its products, to unify the appearance of iOS, iPados, MacOS and Visionos.
The main inspiration of the user interface seems to come from the group’s new Apple product, Apple Vision Pro: icons and elements are rounded, windows and menu bars are floating and translucent, and there are new animations.
You can see an example of what it might look like This video of Jon Prosserwhich presents an iOS 26 model based on disclosed conceptions:
It is not necessarily the design itself that fascinates me, but the change in general. While Apple has mixed its user interface over the years, the general design language has built iOS 7, which dropped more than a decade ago. Although my nostalgic side would love to see Apple bring back the skeuomorphic design of iOS 6 and earlier, I greet any new user interface that looks good. And if I get a similar experience on my iPhone, Mac and iPad, so much the better.
A stage manager type interface
If you have a compatible iPad, you can connect it to an external monitor and extend your screen as you would with a laptop. It is part of an Apple feature calls the stage manager, and it is a cool way to make your iPad a little more useful for serious computer tasks.
What do you think so far?
The rumor says that Apple works on something similar for the iPhone. If the leaks are true, you can connect your USB-C iPhone to a monitor, and although you cannot use it as a computer, you can extend your screen space to match the screen.
It’s a great idea, and something that would make the iPhone a portable presentation station. If you have a slideshow, a video or any type of demonstration on your iPhone, you can share it in full screen on any connected monitor. He would have pale in relation to something like Samsung Dex, which transforms your Galaxy phone into a real office experience, but I think that could be the beginning of something similar on iOS.
Fewer problems
I don’t need Apple much about the iPhone, but if I had only one request, I would ask for a more stable experience. In general, the thing is good, but I encounter many small problems day by day, and I am ready to bet that you too have an iPhone.
According to Mark GurmanReducing problems is a high priority for apple. He says that the company “pushes engineers to ensure that this year’s releases are more functional and less glitchy. The past upgrades have been criticized for bugs and features that sometimes did not work properly”.
It seems good to me, Apple.
Improvements of the lifespan supplied in AI
I may not be excited for any of the new characteristics that generate Apple AI, but I would lie if the improvements in the battery life fueled by AI have not bitten my interest. We all want our iPhones to last longer between the charges, after all.
In the same report which overturned the beans on the “less glichy” lens, Gurman says that Apple works on a functionality that will analyze your use of your iPhone and will make changes to keep the battery life when possible. Perhaps AI notes that you do not benefit from intensive features in certain applications and, as such, reduces the performance of these applications to prioritize energy conservation.
What I like even better, however, is that Apple would work on a locking screen utility that tells you how long it will take to finish the load of your iPhone. These are the small but powerful changes I want to see from Apple.
