Release Candidate of iOS 26.2, macOS Tahoe 26.2, iPadOS 26.2, Available for Testing
A Release Candidate (RC) build of iOS 26.2, iPadOS 26.2, and MacOS Tahoe 26.2, have been released to those users participating in the beta testing programs for Apple system software. With the issuing of a Release Candidate build, it’s likely the final versions of these operating system versions will arrive next week.
The new versions of system software include a variety of small new features, tweaks, adjustments, and bug fixes to the various operating systems.
iOS 26.2 for iPhone introduces a slider to adjust how strong Liquid Glass presents on the Lock Screen (and given the overall reception of Liquid Glass, this should probably be introduced system-wide, and across all OS 26 operating systems). Reminders gains alarms, AirPods gains a Live Translation feature for EU users, you can have your screen flash for alerts, AirDrop gets a temporary access code feature for non-contact users, and more. On the Mac side of things with MacOS 26.2, FaceTime gets an Edge Lighting / Ring Lighting feature that aims to improve lighting during video calls, and Reminders gets alarms too. It’s unclear if the Reduce Transparency not working properly bug has been fixed with MacOS 26.2, or if the bug where iCloud does not work in virtual machines, has been resolved, amongst other problems reported by users.
How to Download iOS 26.2 Release Candidate
For iPhone and iPad, you can get the RC build if you are actively enrolled in the beta testing programs:
- Open the “Settings” app
- Go to “General” and then to “Software Update”
- Choose to download and install iOS 26.2 / iPadOS 26.2
How to Download MacOS Tahoe 26.2 Release Candidate
For Mac that is enrolled in the beta testing programs:
- From the  Apple menu, go to “System Settings”
- Select “General” and then go to “Software Update”
- Choose to update now for MacOS Tahoe 26.2
With this being the Release Candidate build, absent any major bugs or problems discovered that would lead to a second or third RC build, it’s probable that macOS Tahoe 26.2, iOS 26.2, and iPadOS 26.2 could arrive this week or next week.
Currently, the latest stable builds of system software are versioned as iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, iOS 18.7.2, iPadOS 18.7.2, macOS Tahoe 26.1, macOS Sequoia 15.7.2, and macOS Sonoma 14.8.2.
