![\"Apple](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759772950_594_960x0.jpg\")
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Can Samsung ever catch up?<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Apple released iOS 26 to all eligible iPhones on September 15. Just 14 days later, the iOS 26.0.1 update was made available to all those same iPhones<\/a>. For any users wavering on the new liquid OS, Apple even offered iOS 18.7 and iOS 18.7.1 as an alternative.<\/p>\n Apple pushes its security and privacy message hard. And with good reason. Despite Google\u2019s evolving campaign to lock Android down, iPhones still win on both counts. <\/p>\n Samsung, meanwhile, is pushing out its new One UI 8 as fast as it can. Months behind Pixel, it\u2019s a lottery as to which devices in which regions<\/a> get it when. It has also pushed out an October update which isn\u2019t October\u2019s security update<\/a>. That\u2019s still to come.<\/p>\n ForbesIf You See This Apple Pay Warning On Your iPhone, Do Not TapBy Zak Doffman<\/a><\/p>\n Google\u2019s Pixel makes a lot of noise. It is undoubtedly a serious threat to Samsung\u2019s flagships in the U.S. But in the wider flagship world, only Apple and Samsung matter. Google is an also-ran, with just a fraction of the duopoly\u2019s market share<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Pixel can almost match Apple\u2019s everyone, everywhere update process. Google is the only Android OEM which controls both hardware and OS software \u2014 much like Apple. And Pixel users, despite their modest numbers, are first to the best new features.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re dropping more than $1500 on a phone, you should expect expedient software updates, especially when those updates patch security vulnerabilities under attack. But while Apple can rush out a fix and Google can turn its monthly update into an expedient rollout, Samsung can\u2019t change its usual rollout schedule and approach.<\/p>\n Apple\u2019s (likely) next update will be iOS 26.1. And this opens an even wider gap to Samsung in the flagship stakes. Apple is revamping the \u201cRapid Security Responses<\/a>\u201d it introduced in 2023 and used just once. These now become \u201cBackground Security Improvements<\/a>\u201d and install instantly and silently when there\u2019s an urgent fix.<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely that iOS 26.1 will be released at the end of October, by which time most recent Galaxy phones will have received One UI 8. That update brings Android 16, which was released to all supported Pixels<\/a> on June 10. That\u2019s a more than four month gap. <\/p>\n