In iOS 26 beta 5, Apple decided that running out of battery doesn't have to be so dramatic anymore. Now, when your iPhone drops to the dreaded 20%, instead of the classic serious warning, a new "radar"-like animation appears, with a red circle beating like the phone's heart, asking for your energy.

It's a small detail, but with a lot of personality, which turns that moment of trouble into something more pleasant and visually striking, in addition to announcing that the device will activate low power mode to stretch the charge as much as possible.

That animation is part of multiple visual touches that iOS 26 is giving the system to make it feel more fluid, modern and with a touch of unnecessary but welcome sympathy.

Liquid Glass, AI and more: the design and all the intelligence that arrives together

Liquid Glass, Apple's new design language, is everywhere in iOS 26: translucent icons, menus that look like liquid glass, effects that react to movement and light, all with a somewhat futuristic and (slightly) skeuomorphic nostalgia feel.

And what about artificial intelligence? iOS 26 brings it in full force: live translation in calls and texts”all serverless” smart summaries, advanced visual detection, integration with ChatGPT to generate images or process shortcuts... there's a bit of everything. Apple Maps also now lets you search with natural language, like “find coffee shops with free Wi-Fi,” thanks to Apple Intelligence.

In the battery section of Settings, there are new details: color-coded daily consumption, estimated time to full charge on the lock screen, and an Adaptive Power mode that adjusts brightness or performance without activating full low-power mode (and only comes to iPhone 15 Pro and later).

Details that make a difference: animations, Mail, Camera, Wallet and more

iOS 26 is loaded with small refinements that, combined, make the experience more rounded:

Also, as an interesting rumor, Leaked iOS 26 beta 5 files indicate that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 could come with a slightly higher resolution (422 x 514 px vs. 410 x 502 px), improving clarity without changing size – something that could be confirmed soon.