Apple’s iOS 26.1 launch expected next week followed by iOS 26.2 Beta rollout 

The iOS 26.1 update and the first iOS 26.2 beta release may take place on Monday and Tuesday, respectively as per Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman.

iOS 26.1 introduces a new Tinted Toggle to the Liquid Glass option to enhance readability, but is otherwise not a big update. This is not expected to be a significant release as the iOS 26 2 beta, though, is the first one to be released and further enhancements may come in the future. A June 2025 announcement of iOS 26 was first released in September this year to select users with an iPhone.

The journalist in the new Power On newsletter by Gurman mentions that iOS 26.2 has a potential to have a beta test by as early as Tuesday because Apple released it. This release is anticipated to come right after the general release of iOS 26.1 which is said to be released on Monday. According to Gurman, without any last-minute hitches, iOS 26.1 can be delivered to customers at the beginning of the week.

The journalist notes that the developer beta of the iOS 26.2 probably will arrive along with the early beta versions of iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS. The first release can be mainly performance optimisations and background improvements and not substantial new features.

iOS 26.1 release introduces another feature in the Liquid Glass option, the tinted one, which increases text readability and quality on the whole, but makes the visual effect a bit darker.

Larger changes in subsequent beta releases are frequent by Apple, and had been seen before with the tinted toggle in iOS 26.1 being added only in the fourth release. When this trend is maintained, the initial versions of iOS 26.2 can be stability -oriented and then enhanced with fundamental upgrades in another update.

At this point, iOS 26.2 is not expected to be a major release, as its focus will be on refinements and Apple should expect to add minor yet helpful changes throughout the system. The firm has already established that the support of the US passport in Apple Wallet will be realized before the year ends.

End-to-end encryption of RCS messaging may also be considered another significant addition but it was long awaited and was promised to be introduced by Apple in one of the later updates.

iOS 26.2 will be released to users in the stable iOS update channel in a few weeks after a beta test (now I. December), with a more stable performance, big fixes , and other minor improvements to compatible smartphones.