The iPhone 17 is nearly upon us. Next week, Apple will take the virtual stage and announce its next generation of smartphones. There will be some big updates, like the ultra-thin iPhone Air and redesigned camera bump on the Pro, as well as some standard revisions, like the iPhone 17.But while Apple's new iPhones may be quite different, what they all have in common is they'll very likely ship with iOS 26, Apple's latest and great iPhone OS, out of the box. Apple has big plans for iOS 26, including the new Liquid Glass redesign, fresh messaging features, updates to Apple Music, among many other changes. You won't need to buy an iPhone 17 series device in order to run iOS 26, of course: Apple is supporting iPhone 11 and newer with this upcoming update. What this means is that iOS 26 will need to launch at least by the iPhone 17's release date to be in sync with the rest of Apple's iPhones.When will iOS 26 come out?No one can predict the future, and there are few leaks and rumors out there spilling the beans on this release date. That said, we can turn to recent history to make an educated guess as to when Apple plans to launch the new OS this year. Wccftech believes Apple will drop iOS 26 one week after announcing its latest iPhones. That's because the company followed that strategy last year: Apple announced the iPhone 16 on Sept. 9, then dropped the official iOS 18 update on Sept. 16. It would make sense if Apple mirrored this timeline with the iPhone 17 and iOS 26, and, if so, iOS 26's release date would also be Sept. 16. The year before, Apple deviated from this pattern slightly, releasing iOS 17 six days after unveiling the iPhone 15 series. One year before that, however, Apple followed the one-week-later pattern for iOS 16. While anything is possible, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest to see iOS 26 one week after Apple's event on Tuesday, though historical precedent could allow for a Monday launch, as well. Whenever Apple does launch iOS 26, it will likely also release its other software updates as well, including iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and watchOS 26—unless the company runs into issues with any update it needs additional time to troubleshoot.You can run iOS 26 right nowYou don't actually have to wait until Apple officially releases iOS 26 to try out all these new features and changes. The company has been beta testing the software since June (though the public beta didn't launch until July), rooting out bugs and glitches to optimize the experience for the general public. There's a risk in installing any beta on your device, since the software is not finished yet. But if you want to experience iOS 26 before most of your friends and family, the option is there. As we're inching closer to the end of the beta cycle, the risks are lower than they were when Apple was still looking out for larger bugs. Still, if you choose to install the beta on your iPhone, make sure to archive your phone to a secure source, like your Mac or PC, as you could lose your data should you need to downgrade back to iOS 18.