2nd Release Candidate Build of iOS 26.2 Available for Testing
Release candidate builds typically match the final version of an operating system, unless a last minute bug or issue has been found anyway, and that’s perhaps what happened in this case, as a 2nd release candidate build for iOS 26.2 has been made available for testing. macOS Tahoe 26.2 RC remains on the first release candidate build released the week prior, in case you were wondering.
It’s quite likely the final version of iOS 26.2, iPadOS 26.2, and MacOS Tahoe 26.2 will be released to the general public in the very near future, likely the coming days.
iOS 26.2 includes a few tweaked and changes, including the ability to adjust how strong Liquid Glass is only on the Lock Screen of iPhone (would be nice to have this system wide, and on the Mac), Reminders gains an alarms feature, EU users get the Live Translation features on AirPods, a setting is available to flash the screen for alerts and notifications, and AirDrop gains a temporary access code features for sharing with users who are not in your contacts list.
macOS Tahoe 26.2 includes FaceTime Edge / Ring Lighting feature that helps to improve lighting during video calls, and the Reminders app on MacOS gains alarms too. We will soon find out some annoying bugs have been addressed, including whether or not iCloud can work in Virtual Machines again, and if the bug where Reduce Transparency does not work entirely has been fixed with MacOS 26.2.
How to Download iOS 26.2 Release Candidate 2
Grab the second RC build on iPhone if you’re 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
Again, it is assumed the final versions of these OS 26.2 releases will be released in the very near future, whether that’s today, tomorrow, or by the end of the week. Or maybe it will come out next year, just to mess with everyone making a guess on the iOS 26.2 release date, who knows! That’s unlikely too, of course.
The latest final versions of system software available from Apple are currently 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.
