Apple on Tuesday released iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, the latest updates to its mobile operating systems, arriving six weeks after iOS 26.3. The update brings a handful of new features, eight new emoji, and the usual round of security and performance improvements, but users still waiting on a revamped Siri will have to keep waiting.
Here is a breakdown of what’s new.
How to get it
The update is available as a free over-the-air download. To install, go to Settings > General > Software Update on any eligible iPhone or iPad.
New Apple Music features
The headline addition is Playlist Playground, a new Apple Music feature that uses artificial intelligence to generate custom playlists based on text prompts. Users can describe a mood, occasion, or feeling, and the tool will produce a playlist complete with a title, description, and tracklist. The feature is currently in beta.
The update also adds a Concerts feature to help users discover nearby shows from artists in their library, an offline song recognition tool that identifies tracks without an internet connection, an Ambient Music widget for the home screen, and full-screen backgrounds for album and playlist pages.
Other new features
- Eight new emoji, including an orca, trombone, ballet dancer, landslide, and distorted face.
- Purchase Sharing update: Adult members of Family Sharing groups can now use their own payment methods when making purchases, rather than going through the family organizer.
- Freeform upgrade: The app gains advanced image creation and editing tools and a premium content library through Apple Creator Studio.
- Reminders: Users can now mark reminders as urgent and filter for them in Smart Lists.
- Accessibility: New options include a setting to reduce bright flashes, easier access to subtitle and caption settings while viewing media, and improved Reduce Motion support for users sensitive to on-screen animation.
Still no new Siri
Rumors had circulated that the iOS 26.4 update would bring a significantly improved version of Siri, but the feature is absent. Apple has said only that an upgraded Siri is coming in 2026. With its annual Worldwide Developers Conference drawing closer, Apple may choose to announce the revamped assistant there alongside iOS 27, which would push a public release to around September 2026.
Also releasing: macOS Tahoe 26.4
Apple simultaneously released macOS Tahoe 26.4, which carries over many of the same improvements. Notable additions on the Mac side include the eight new emoji, access to the MacBook Neo’s colorful wallpapers for all users, and a new battery charge limit slider for the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook Neo — allowing users to cap the maximum charge level to help preserve long-term battery health.
The macOS update also includes a forward-looking warning: Rosetta 2, the translation layer that allowed Intel-era Mac apps to run on Apple Silicon chips, will be discontinued with macOS 28. macOS Tahoe is expected to be the final version to support Intel-based Macs.
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