{"id":328644,"date":"2025-12-06T10:37:58","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T10:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/328644\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T10:37:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T10:37:58","slug":"apple-may-surprise-users-with-next-iphone-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/328644\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple May Surprise Users With Next iPhone Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated Dec 6 with further details of the software and its release date.<\/p>\n

Did you upgrade your iPhone to iOS 26 yet? It\u2019s available for all models from the iPhone 11 onwards. But until now, Apple has also readied a version of last year\u2019s iOS 18 so that users reluctant to move to the new OS just yet can stay protected. It looks like that\u2019s just ended and new evidence suggests that the next iOS 26 update is now only days away. Since there have been numerous reports that the software was delayed, it will surprise many that it might actually be early, after all. <\/p>\n

\"US-TECH-APPLE-HARDWARE-COMPUTERS\"<\/p>\n

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max<\/p>\n

AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cApple is encouraging iPhone users who are still running iOS 18 to upgrade to iOS 26 by making the \u200ciOS 26\u200c software upgrade option more prominent,\u201d MacRumors<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

ForbesiOS 26.2 Release Date: What To Expect And When From The Next Critical iPhone UpdateBy David Phelan<\/a><\/p>\n

Until this week, iOS 18 updates have been the default choice, with iOS 26 offered further down the page in Settings. <\/p>\n

\u201cStarting today, that’s changing. iOS 18 users who have not upgraded to \u200ciOS 26\u200c will now see iOS 26.1 as the recommended iOS update in the Settings app. iOS 18 updates are still an option, but are now displayed at the bottom of the app,\u201d the report goes on.<\/p>\n

While that\u2019s not the same as forcing users to move to iOS 26, the writing is clearly on the wall. <\/p>\n

Each iOS 26 update has been accompanied by one for iOS 18, so far. However, while the first two of these were released pretty much at the same time, the latest iOS 18 option, 18.7.2, came several days later, perhaps as a way for Apple to quietly nudge people to iOS 26. <\/p>\n

While this doesn\u2019t mean that there won\u2019t be an iOS 18.7.3 release soon after iOS 26.2 goes live later this month (read this<\/a> for exactly when that will be), it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if iOS 26.2 is the only option offered. <\/p>\n

And there\u2019s now further evidence that iOS 26.2 is almost here: on Wednesday, Dec. 3, Apple launched the release candidate of iOS 26.2 to developers, indicating the schedule is still in place for general release on Monday, Dec. 15 or Tuesday, Dec. 16. <\/p>\n

It also means that it\u2019s just possible that iOS 26.2 could come earlier. I had written off Monday, Dec. 8 and Tuesday, Dec. 9, but as the release candidate arrived so soon after the week of Thanksgiving, I\u2019d say that one of those days is possible, alongside Wednesday, Dec. 10 \u2014 which I now believe to be the most likely date. <\/p>\n

Other commentators have come to their own conclusions, but all are in the same ball park. \u201cApple normally releases its x.2 updates during the second week of December, and this year seems to follow the same pattern. So users can expect the update between 8 December and 10 December, unless there is a revised RC build that delays things a little,\u201d MSN said while Britta O\u2019Boyle at T3 agreed that it could come \u201cas soon as next week.\u201d <\/p>\n

Geeky Gadgets said \u201cApple has confirmed that the general rollout will occur on Dec. 8, giving users worldwide access to the new features and improvements,\u201d though it\u2019s not clear to me that Apple has made this confirmation or where the site is sourcing this. <\/p>\n

And I suspect it will be the week beginning Dec. 8 rather than necessarily the day itself \u2014 though that would certainly surprise the analysts who have banked on the release being delayed. <\/p>\n

\u201cLooking ahead, Apple plans to release the iOS 26.3 beta during the week of Dec. 15,\u201d the site went on, which seems likely to me.<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s move to encourage people to iOS 26 now suggests to me that the iOS 18 option at the bottom of the page is likely to disappear soon. <\/p>\n

Of course, there will be iOS 18 security updates coming in the future, but they may only be offered to users of the three phones which can run iOS 18 but not iOS 26, that is, the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. Owners of the latest models, iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone Air, have no choice in the matter: iOS 26 came pre-installed. <\/p>\n

ForbesiPhone 18: How Apple\u2019s 2025 Releases Reveal The Secrets Of The Next iPhonesBy David Phelan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated Dec 6 with further details of the software and its release date. Did you upgrade your iPhone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[1572,49,48,144529,191,119531,1575,20787,144528,190,61,144530],"class_list":{"0":"post-328644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-apple","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-ios-18-7-3","12":"tag-ios-26","13":"tag-ios-26-2-release-date","14":"tag-iphone","15":"tag-iphone-17","16":"tag-iphone-xs","17":"tag-mobile","18":"tag-technology","19":"tag-when-will-apple-release-ios-26-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}