The iPhone Gets Its Biggest Facelift in a Decade
The last time your iPhone got a major redesign was in 2013, when Jony Ive still worked at Apple, Facebook was still the only social network worth caring about, and a Brit hadn’t won Wimbledon for 77 years. Come 2025, Jony Ive works for OpenAI, your mum is still on Facebook, and Andy Murray has retired after as many hip surgeries as Wimbledon triumphs. In other words, iOS has long been due a refresh, so it’s getting one alongside a whole suite of welcome new features.
Announced at Apple’s annual WWDC 2025 conference in Cupertino, California, iOS 26’s Liquid Glass update brings a fresh aesthetic to your iPhone—one that borrows several tricks from that pricey Vision Pro headset it dropped last year. Still, there’s more that’s coming soon to iPhone beyond its facelift. From a much-improved Phone app to new live translation skills, here’s what’s set to launch later this year alongside the forthcoming iPhone 17. Oh, and there’s an update on Apple Intelligence too.
Apple calls a mulligan on AI
Last year’s big iPhone update was meant to herald the launch of Apple Intelligence, the company’s answer to the rise of ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity. It promised a lot with a leveled-up Siri and clever examples of cross-app functionality (such as quickly sharing your flight arrival time from Mail to Messages) and has mainly delivered Genmoji and some ChatGPT integration so far. So at WWDC 25, Apple called a mulligan on Apple Intelligence. The game-changing stuff is still coming, but not for a while. In the meantime, iOS 26 has its Liquid Glass update to be getting on with.
Liquid Glass freshens up your iPhone
OK. Onto the exciting stuff: iOS 26’s new Liquid Glass look. The iPhone’s visual vibe of late is best described as bright, flat, and big on rounded corners. Liquid Glass adds a more layered approach to that aesthetic with a greater use of transparency and visual elements that melt around both your apps and Home Screen. It’s an undeniably slick approach to iOS, and you’re going to see it everywhere when it soon rolls out across all of Apple’s first-party apps and devices. Yep, the Watch, Mac, iPad and beyond will be using it.
It’s iOS 26, not iOS 18
No, you didn’t miss eight iterations of new iPhone operating systems before iOS 26. Just as all of Apple’s operating systems—from iPadOS to watchOS—are set to benefit from its Liquid Glass glow up, they’re also borrowing their name from the year ahead. Why? Simplicity really. Everything gets the same name, and you don’t have to consult with the nerd in your life to figure out the difference between watchOS 11 and visionOS 2.
Phone app favorites
It’s the year of our Lord 2025, and your iPhone finally has a serviceable Phone app. Soon, you’ll be able to open your Phone app and be greeted immediately with the means to call your favorite contacts. No more scrolling down an endless call list. Sometimes it’s the little things that matter.
Visual Intelligence makes image searching easy
While a bunch of Apple Intelligence features are on hold, there’s still one truly notable new AI-powered feature coming to iOS 26. Visual Intelligence will allow you to find and buy whatever jacket Carmy is wearing in The Bear season four and ask other non-menswear-related questions about whatever falls across your timeline. To do so, just take a screenshot of what you want to search for and you’ll be able to dive straight into this new functionality. It’s smart and simple, just like Apple’s best work.
Live translation and polls in Messages
Aside from its all-new visuals, the general theme of iOS 26 is doing the basics better. That ethos extends to live translation abilities across phone calls, FaceTime and Messages, and there are also some welcome tweaks to group texting. You can poll your buds to decide what bar you want to hit up later, split your bills via Apple Cash, and now see typing indicators show up as you all react to Carlos Alcaraz’s latest Rolex Daytona flex. Good luck getting on the waitlist for that turquoise model though.
