Following months of beta testing since WWDC25, Apple is finally ready to release iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS Tahoe to the public. These operating systems finally have a release date.
The updates will start rolling out as early as September 15, just a week after Apple’s Awe Dropping event.
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 release date
Your compatible iPhone or iPad will get the stable iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 update on September 15, i.e., Monday. Apple will push the public build to iPhones launched in 2019 or later, with the iPhone 11 being the oldest model to get the update. iOS 26 drops support for the iPhone Xs and iPhone XR.
The full list of compatible iPhones is as follows:
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max
- iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2nd gen)
- iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max
- iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max
- iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max
- iPhone 16, iPhone 16e, and iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max
All the new Apple Intelligence-powered features will be exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and newer models. Plus, older iPhones will miss out on several other iOS 26 features.
iPadOS 26 will also be released to the public on the same day, i.e, September 15, Monday. The update will arrive on the following iPads:
- iPad Air 3, M2 iPad Air, and newer
- iPad (8th generation or later)
- iPad Pro (Third-generation/A12X Bionic and later models)
- iPad mini 5 and newer
watchOS 26 release date
watchOS 26 will release alongside iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 on Monday, September 15. It will support the following Apple Watch models:
- Apple Watch SE (2nd gen/2020)
- Apple Watch Series 6
- Apple Watch Series 7
- Apple Watch Series 8
- Apple Watch Series 9
- Apple Watch Series 10
- Apple Watch Ultra
- Apple Watch Ultra 2
macOS Tahoe release date
Apple released macOS Sequoia alongside iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 last year. It will do the same with macOS Tahoe this year, releasing it on the same day as iOS 26 and iPadOS 26: September 15. This makes sense since the two operating systems are now more tied together than ever before.
Besides the Liquid Glass redesign, macOS Tahoe stands out for dropping support for several Intel-based Macs. It is only compatible with the following Macs:
- MacBook Air (M1 and later)
- MacBook Pro (2019 and later)
- Mac mini (M1 and newer)
- Mac Studio (all models)
- Mac Pro (2019 and newer)
- iMac (2020 and later)
If you are on the beta channel, Apple has already pushed out a release candidate build of the above operating systems before the public release next week.
