Apple on Tuesday released version 26.4 of its major operating systems, delivering a substantial collection of refinements, new capabilities, and important security patches across iOS, iPadOS, macOS Tahoe, and supporting platforms including watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS.
Unlike the relatively quiet 26.3 update last month, the new 26.4 releases introduce a broad array of medium-sized tweaks that users are likely to notice in daily use. The updates were previously available in beta testing and are now rolling out to compatible devices worldwide.
Key New Features and Enhancements
Among the highlights available across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS are:
• Battery health improvements for MacBooks: New charging limits that allow users to prevent batteries from charging to full capacity, helping extend long-term battery life.
• Safari’s compact tab view returns: The streamlined tab interface returns for Safari on both macOS Tahoe and iPadOS 26.
• Stolen Device Protection now enabled by default: Apple’s security feature designed to make it much harder for thieves to access or reset a stolen iPhone or iPad is now active out of the box.
• Fresh emoji additions: A selection of new characters from the Unicode 17.0 standard.
• AI-powered Apple Music playlists: Users can now generate playlists using Apple’s intelligence features.
• Enhanced Freeform app tools: New Creator Studio capabilities for the built-in collaborative whiteboard app.
• More flexible Family Sharing: Adults in a family group can now use separate payment methods for App Store and other purchases.
Platform-Specific Notes
On the messaging front, Apple confirmed that end-to-end encrypted RCS (version 3.0) remains in public testing and was not included in the final 26.4 release. iPhone users will continue to use the standard unencrypted RCS when texting Android devices, or fall back to SMS where necessary.
For users on older hardware, Apple also issued iOS/iPadOS 18.7.7 for iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, and the 7th-generation iPad — devices that cannot run iOS 26. Similarly, Macs not yet upgraded to macOS Tahoe can receive macOS Sequoia 15.7.5 or macOS Sonoma 14.8.5, which include their own security updates.
Strong Emphasis on Security
As is typical with Apple’s point releases, security forms a major part of the update. Apple has published detailed lists of fixes for iOS/iPadOS and macOS, addressing a wide range of vulnerabilities. Users are strongly encouraged to install the updates promptly, especially given the volume of security patches.
MacDailyNews Note: Notable features still on the horizon include a significantly more intelligent Siri (expected to leverage Google’s Gemini models) and the final implementation of encrypted RCS messaging. Apple is expected to provide further details on future OS plans at WWDC 2026 on June 8th.
The 26.4 updates are available now via Settings > General > Software Update on iPhone and iPad, and through System Settings on Mac. As always, it’s recommended to back up devices before installing major updates.
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On the Mac update the top of the list of features is 8 new emoji.
This update bricked my iPhone. (Tried both “update” and “restore” from my MacBook Pro and my Mac Pro. It won’t reboot at all, which is what Apple’s online instructions say to do. So a trip to the Apple store may be required!)
This update hangs up on my 2024 MacBook Pro with M4 Max and 128 GB RAM. It will not complete. So I’m reverting back to 26.3.1.
I’m not even going to try it on my Mac Pro!
So… Mac and iPhone users… BEWARE.
Update.
Yes, I had to go to an Apple store to unbrick that iPhone. After about an hour it was in the state of having just iOS 26.4 on it and nothing else. I took it home and initiated restoring it from the backup on my Mac Pro (iPhone hardwired to the Mac Pro). The restore from backup took about 1/2 hour. Then it said it had to update the OS again! So about 20 minutes later it said the restore was done.
But, not so fast…
It now had to download all the apps that did not come with iOS. So another hour of apps downloading and installing.
Then, I had to go in and reinitiate a lot of things: AppleID account, email accounts, certain software accounts, etc.
Also, just FYI…
The person at the Apple Genius/support bar said he personally had to restore another “bricked” iPhone earlier that day and had heard reports of others in the store. The upside of that knowledge is that it felt a tiny bit better that it was not something I did to brick my phone. The downside is that the Apple employee said that the deployment of iOS 26.4 is absolutely known to be a bit flaky. Apple needs to clean up their act. It’s no longer, “It just works!”