Apple has rolled out iOS 26, and for the first time in years, the operating system feels fundamentally different. The centerpiece is the new Liquid Glass interface – a translucent, fluid design that replaces the flatter, more utilitarian look we’ve gotten used to since iOS 7. Everything from app windows to widgets now seems to float and blur in layers of glass-like panels. It looks flashy, no doubt. But in practice, the redesign isn’t as user-friendly as Apple suggests.
The problem with Apple’s new design is readability. Transparent layers and shifting backgrounds may look futuristic in demos, but in the real world – especially for people with less-than-perfect vision or when you’re outside in poor lighting conditions – the text and icons can be harder to distinguish. When I upgraded today, I found the text bubble for searching in Messages and Mail difficult to read due to images and text displayed behind it. And, a simple glance at my lock-screen notifications now feels like I'm peering through frosted glass. Apple has long prided itself on accessibility, yet this update risks alienating the very people who need clarity the most.
Apple typically introduces iOS updates as incremental tweaks – a new feature here, a visual polish there. iOS 26 is different. The Liquid Glass interface touches almost every part of the system, and with such a sweeping change, the likelihood of bugs is higher than usual. Early adopters may find themselves running into glitches, app compatibility issues, or battery drain quirks that usually take a few weeks for Apple to smooth out.
Read more: iOS 26 Is Apple’s Most Polished Update in Years: Here’s Why
That’s why it’s worth asking: is the eye candy worth the instability?
If you own an older iPhone, you’ll get the Liquid Glass look and some of the new iOS 26 features, like the new Call Screening option, but not the more advanced Apple Intelligence features – things like Live Translation and Visual Intelligence, which uses the phone’s camera to recognize objects. Without those AI capabilities, the update may feel like style over substance. You’ll be dealing with the risks of a brand-new interface without getting the full set of benefits. For many people, that trade-off simply won’t be worth it.
Even if your phone is compatible with all the new AI features, my advice is to wait. Let Apple iron out the inevitable early bugs and give app developers time to optimize for the new design. This is one update where patience will pay off. Fortunately, Apple is giving you the choice to stay on the latest iteration of iOS 18 or upgrade to iOS 26 for at least the coming weeks, if not months.
[Image credit: Apple, screenshot via Techlicious]
