Pre-orders open at 5 a.m. PT on 16 October 2026 and the device goes on sale 23 October 2026 in more than 70 countries and regions, with 28 more following on 30 October.
The detail that matters for planning: it ships running iOS 27.1, not iOS 27. That is the SDK tier at which apps reach the edge of the inner display and standard navigation and toolbar buttons lay out vertically.
So every device in a customer’s hands on day one is running the environment that expects the most modern layout. An app that has not been rebuilt still works, but it will sit visibly inside that environment rather than filling it. What to fix first covers the sequencing.
Why the iOS version is the part that matters
Shipping on 27.1 rather than 27 means day-one devices are already at the SDK tier where apps reach the screen edge and bar buttons lay out vertically. There is no grace period in which most users are on an older tier.
Working back from 23 October: Apple released Xcode 27.1 beta on 18 September, so the simulator is the only way to see your app on this device until it is in people’s hands. Most of the audit work does not depend on it — see what to fix first.