Larry Magid: New iPhone operating system arrives on Monday

This past Tuesday, Apple announced some new iPhones along with new versions of the Apple Watch and AirPods earbuds. Most of the new iPhone models look pretty similar to existing ones, but there is a new iPhone Air. Less than a quarter-inch thick, it’s the thinnest iPhone ever. Even though it has a fairly big 6.5-inch screen, it has a smaller battery than the thicker and heavier iPhones.

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The iPhone 17 Pro has a couple of interesting attributes, including what Apple calls a “heat-forged aluminum unibody enclosure that maximizes performance, battery capacity, and durability.” It also bumps the zoom from 5X to what Apple is claiming to be 8X “optical quality zoom,” without defining exactly what that means. I’m assuming they’re saying that they can zoom in using digital technology with virtually no degradation, but we’ll have to wait for reviews to find out how true that is. The new phone comes in two sizes, a 6.3 inch with a “33-hour video playback” battery starting at $1,099 and a 6.9 inch with a 36-hour video playback battery starting at $1,199. Aside from size and battery life, the two models are otherwise identical.

iOS 26 for existing iPhones

Although the new hardware that you can order starting Sept. 15 gets most of the attention, for most people, the important news is that will also be the day you can download a free copy of Apple’s new iOS 26 operating system, assuming you have an iPhone 11 or later, which was released in 2017. With iOS 26, your compatible iPhone gets most of the features of the new iPhones.

I’ve been testing a beta version of iOS 26, and so far, I find it relatively similar to its predecessor, although there are a few very useful new features and a shiny new addition to the way its screens look.

The most noticeable change is what Apple calls Liquid Glass, which makes icons, search bars and other elements translucent. It’s mostly a minor aesthetic improvement, but it does make it easier to see what’s underneath buttons and other screen elements. It’s an improvement, but unlike some enthusiasts who marvel at almost anything Apple announces, I don’t think it’s much to get excited about.

Live translation, Apple Intelligence

What is exciting, at least for some, is the ability to do live translation on phone calls. I tried it with a Spanish-speaking friend, and it worked well. There are delays just like with a human translator, but we were able to understand each other. Live Translation also works with iPhone Messages and Facetime, and it’s coming to Apple’s AirPods for in-person translation.

Another useful update is the phone app’s “Screen Unknown Callers,” which asks people calling from unsaved numbers for more information before ringing your iPhone. Unlike some people, I usually answer calls from unknown callers because I don’t want to miss calls from journalists, doctors and others outside of my contact list, so I’m excited about this new feature.

Apple is also making it easier to use ChatGPT to analyze what’s on your iPhone screen. For example, it’s pretty hard to interpret the sleep chart the Apple Health app displays if you wear an Apple Watch to bed, but I was able to take a screen shot of that display, press the Ask button that came up and get an easy to understand explanation from ChatGPT.

In addition to adding translation, the Messages app now allows you to create polls in group chats, which is perfect for coordinating with friends or colleagues. But this only works if everyone in the group is using a device with iOS 26, so people with earlier versions or Android will not see the same thing as iOS 26 users.

Apple has also enhanced what it calls “Visual Intelligence.” On iPhones with the Camera Control button, you can press and hold it to pull up details about a restaurant or business, translate or summarize text, have it read aloud, identify plants and animals, and more.

You can even create a calendar entry based on data in screenshots. I tried this and found it to accurately recognize the time and date in the image but not enter the name of the event.

You can also add that function to the Action Button, which is on the top right side of some of the more recent models. When you invoke this feature in the camera, you can either click “Ask” to get information about the image from ChatGPT or do a Google image search. When it comes to AI, so-called Apple Intelligence isn’t nearly as intelligent as tools from Google, OpenAI and other companies, but I do give Apple a lot of credit for using other companies’ tools until its own AI services are competitive.

The new operating system will be available Monday as a free update. You might get a prompt to install it automatically, but if you don’t, you can manually check by going to Settings – General – Software Update. Keep in mind that although iOS 26 runs on iPhone 11 and newer, some of the advanced features, including Visual Intelligence, require the latest hardware such as the iPhone 15 Pro or later.

Whether you’re upgrading to the iPhone 17 or sticking with the one you have, Monday’s release of iOS 26 is a reminder that Apple’s ecosystem evolves over time. Whether it’s an iPhone, an Android device, a PC, a Mac or even modern cars like Teslas with over-the-air updates, new software can make devices we already own improve over time.

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Larry Magid is a tech journalist and internet safety activist. Contact him at [email protected].