What to Expect From iOS 26.4

iOS 26.3 is shaping up to be a relatively minor update, with only a couple of notable new features, but iOS 26.4 is expected to be much more significant.

We are still waiting for the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate to come out, so the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a few weeks away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public at some point in March or April.

Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.4 features so far.

Personalized Siri

Earlier this month, Apple and Google announced that Google Gemini will help power a more personalized version of Siri coming this year.

The more personalized version of Siri is expected to be introduced with iOS 26.4, following a lengthy delay. The new capabilities will include better understanding of a user's personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls, but some of this functionality might not be available until iOS 27 later this year.

For example, all the way back at WWDC 2024, Apple showed an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info retrieved from the Mail and Messages apps.

Looking ahead, Apple is reportedly planning to launch a full-out Siri chatbot on iOS 27, allowing users to have ChatGPT-like conversations with Siri.

New Emoji

Last year, the Unicode Consortium previewed some of the new emoji that are expected to be added to the iPhone with iOS 26.4.

Here are nine of the new emoji:

• Trombone
• Treasure Chest
• Distorted Face
• Hairy Creature (aka Bigfoot or Sasquatch)
• Fight Cloud
• Apple Core
• Orca
• Ballet Dancers
• Landslide

Apple most recently added new emoji to the iPhone with iOS 18.4, an update that came out in March last year. iOS 17.4, iOS 16.4, and iOS 15.4 also introduced new emoji over the years, so the timing has become predictable by this point.

More

Macworld's Filipe Espósito last month leaked some other potential iOS 26.4 features:

• If you have credit card information stored in Apple's Passwords app, you will be able to AutoFill those details in third-party apps.
• You will be able to create folders in the Freeform app.
• Apple is apparently working on a new sports tier for the Apple TV app, but the report did not offer any further details about this.
• There are signs of "a new validation system that will check the integrity of the device before logging into Apple ID and iCloud."
• A new "Precise Outdoor Location" feature for AirPods in the Find My app.

Of course, there will be additional iOS 26.4 features that are still unknown, so stay tuned.