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Apple Seeds iOS 26.6 and iPadOS 26.6 Release Candidates

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Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.6 and iPadOS 26.6 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple seeded the fifth betas. The RCs represent the final version of the software that will be released soon should no additional bugs be found.

iOS 26
Registered developers can download the betas from the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad by going to the General section and selecting Software Update.

With iOS 27 set to launch in September, Apple is wrapping up work on iOS 26. According to Apple's release notes, the update includes security fixes and optimized the Spotlight index to prepare for ‌iOS 27‌.

Related Roundups: iOS 26, iPadOS 26
Related Forum: iOS 26

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iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.5.2 With Security Fixes

Monday June 29, 2026 10:21 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 26.5.2 and iPadOS 26.5.2, minor updates to the iOS and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. iOS 26.5.2 comes a month after the launch of iOS 26.5.1, an update that added a charging fix for the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 models. iOS 26.5.2 and iPadOS 26.5.2 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General >...
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iOS 26

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iOS 26

Apple Seeds Third Public Betas of iOS 26.6, macOS Tahoe 26.6 and More

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Apple today provided public beta testers with the third betas of iOS 26.6, iPadOS 26.6, macOS Tahoe 26.6, watchOS 26.6, and tvOS 26.6, with the software coming a day after Apple seeded the betas to developers. After signing up to beta test the software updates on Apple's beta site, public beta testers can download the new software using the Software Update section in the Settings app on each ...
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Top Rated Comments

B
bluecoast
23 hours ago at 11:11 am
excited for this point release, as it lays the foundations for us all leaving the hell that is the 26 series.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
T
thelion7
19 hours ago at 03:18 pm

excited for this point release, as it lays the foundations for us all leaving the hell that is the 26 series.
Having experienced all of the 27 dev betas (so far) with the exception of homepod os 27 public beta. (Which is a step in the right direction)

26 is a junk OS and Apple should be ashamed that they got as far as 26.5.2 and thought it was passible.

26.6 might just manage but still not great.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
stephanjp
22 hours ago at 11:48 am

Does this update implement the Siri AI indexing before iOS 27?
That’s what the article says 😀
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jxdawg Avatar
Jxdawg
21 hours ago at 01:24 pm

Still waiting for my iPhone 16 Pro's battery life to be fixed after a recent update absolutely killed it. Spoken to many people who have experienced the same on 1 or 2 year old iPhones.
26.5.2 has been HORRIBLE for battery. Even caused me to do a DFU restore and it went right back to having issues. My 16 barely makes it through the day on 80% at 100% health.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Amazing Iceman Avatar
Amazing Iceman
1 day ago at 10:26 am

I hope ios 26.6 fixes the bug thats locking people out of apple account, it was a bug in ios 26.5 then went away on its own after a week now its back in ios 26.5.2 but its WORSE, It prompts me to unlock the account every 2 hours. I hope it fixes itself on its own but I doubt it. Maybe it will be fixed in ios 26.6 but prob not. Go to reddit if you have this issue [MEDIA=reddit]ios26/comments/1v1qymb/anyone_else_get_locked_outta_their_icloud_today[/MEDIA]
Strange.. I have never got locked out of any of my devices, and I have about 14.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
P
Pheux
2 hours ago at 08:00 am

This is what I meant with my Vista remark.

It was a shockingly long time ago now, but I lived through that. It was godawful on release, with stupid broken glass effects everywhere, and immediately got a bad reputation.

But, by SP1, it wasn't really broken anymore, just still very ugly and half baked. By SP2 it was usable.

And the irony is, they didn't really change all that much under the hood from SP2 to Windows 7, but they did fix all the interface bugs and the ugliness, and so it went down as perhaps the single best version of Windows ever.

The iOS 26 release cycle really reminds me a lot of that whole situation. Right down to Sinofsky being vilified and leaving shortly thereafter.
It’s a very fair comparison.

26.6 is the SP1.
27 stable will be SP2.
28 will probably be the W7.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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