Apple Releases iOS 26.5: New Update Adds Long-Awaited Feature For iPhone - Forbes

Consumer TechApple Releases iOS 26.5: New Update Adds Long-Awaited Feature For iPhoneByDavid Phelan, Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about lifestyle techFollow AuthorMay 13, 2026, 05:03pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.SummaryApple has released iOS 26.5, now available for iPhone 11 series and newer, including the latest iPhone 17 models. Users can update through Settings > General > Software Update. While many hoped for the new Siri, it's notably absent, with analysts now expecting its debut with iOS 27 at WWDC on June 8. However, a significant update is the introduction of end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging. Currently in beta and requiring carrier support, this feature will finally secure communications between iPhones and Android devices. Other additions include a new "Pride Luminance" wallpaper and "Suggested Places" in Maps, offering recommendations based on local trends and user activity. Apple iPhone 17Getty ImagesUpdate May 13: this post, first published on Monday, May 11, has been updated with additional detail about encrypted messaging, the key upgrade in the release and features specific to users in the EU. The latest iPhone update is now available, following weeks of beta releases, and a last-minute, unexpected second release candidate (details here). That second RC could have meant a later general release, but no, here it is, right on schedule. Here’s all you need to know about the new features and compatibility. This update is like all the others in the iOS 26 cycle, this one is for all iPhones from 2019 onwards. That means the iPhone 11 series and later. The second-generation and third-generation iPhone SE handsets are included. All members of the iPhone 17 series, including the latest release, iPhone 17e, plus iPhone Air, are also supported. To update to the new software, go to the Settings app on the iPhone and select General, followed by Software Update. Here you’ll find Download and Install, and it’ll be downloaded promptly. It’s a medium update, 1.61GB on my iPhone 17 Pro Max. It downloaded and installed in around 25 minutes. Note that the size of the update will depend on how long ago you updated before. If your iPhone currently runs iOS 26.3, say, or even iOS 18, your download will be much bigger — and take longer. Coming from iOS 26.0.1 on my iPhone Air, the download was over 13GB, for instance. Let me break it to you gently: new Siri isn’t here. That’s no surprise as it wasn’t in any of the betas and an increasing number of analysts have said that the new, more personalized Siri would be held until iOS 27 is announced on June 8 at WWDC. But some people were still hopeful. Sorry. What is here, though, is a major change to messaging. After months of testing, end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging is still available. It’s still in beta even in this release, and it’s worth remembering that it won’t arrive for everyone immediately — it requires the participation of your carrier, for a start. When it’s there, it will mean that messages sent between iPhones and Android phones will finally be encrypted. Messages between iPhones, the blue bubbles, already are. Here’s an indication of how big a deal this is: Apple has released a Newsroom post to talk about it, something it rarely does for iOS releases. Here’s the link, and note that because it’s what Apple describes as a “Quick Read,” you may need to scroll down the page to find it. The release was dated May 11. Anyway, here’s what’s key to the post. “Apple and Google have led a cross-industry effort to bring end-to-end encryption to Rich Communication Services (RCS), making the cross-platform messaging format that replaces traditional SMS more secure and private,” Apple said. And cross-industry is right: Google’s Sameer Samat, who is President of the Android Ecosystem, posted on X, calling the change “big news,” with strikingly similar wording to Apple. “This cross-industry effort replaces outdated SMS with a more secure & private way to chat, no matter what phone you have,” Samat commented. Apple had more details to share. “Starting today, end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging begins rolling out in beta for iPhone users running iOS 26.5 with supported carriers and Android users on the latest version of Google Messages. When RCS messages are end-to-end encrypted, they can’t be read while they’re sent between devices. Users will know that a conversation is end-to-end encrypted when they see a new lock icon in their RCS chats. Encryption is on by default and will be automatically enabled over time for new and existing RCS conversations,” it reported. Two takeaways there: it confirms that carrier support is required and it highlights the lock icon to let you know when your chats are encrypted. Although there are plenty of new features in the latest update, it’s not short on security fixes. More than 50 have been identified, Some of these are serious, including half a dozen at the heart of the iOS operating system, the Kernel. The same number are attached to WebKit, the engine that powers Safari. Another was found that could have allowed a malicious app to go where it shouldn’t, escaping its sandbox. While it’s not clear any has been exploited in the real world yet, updating removes the problem. Additionally, there’s a new wallpaper to celebrate Pride. It’s called Pride Luminance and “dynamically refracts a spectrum of colors,” Apple said in the release notes. Finally, for users in the U.S., at least, Maps adds recommendations in a feature called Suggested Places. The recommendations are based on what’s trending nearby and your recent searches. Following the changes of the EU Digital Markets Act, there are elements in the new release which are specific to users in the EU. Apple is now letting third-party wearables have access to features which have previously been exclusive to the Apple Watch and AirPods. For instance, proximity pairing, which allows AirPods to connect to an iPhone by being nearby, will be available to third-party earbuds. Similarly, third-party smartwatches will be capable of receiving notifications from an iPhone in the way the Apple Watch does. And Live Activities from the iPhone could now be displayed on third-party wearables.