Apple’s upcoming iOS 26 update isn’t just about the flashy new Liquid Glass design-it’s also making older iPhones feel snappier with a clever tweak. In the freshly released iOS 26 beta 6, Apple has sped up the Springboard app launch animations for the first time in years, shaving off around 150 milliseconds. 
While that number sounds small, the change feels big in daily use.
The animations now use a ‘wrap’ effect, reminiscent of macOS windows minimizing to the dock. Apps seem to leap out of their icons much faster, expanding to 90% of the screen in the time it used to take the old animation to fill half the display. It’s a subtle yet satisfying shift that gives the illusion of improved performance.
For owners of older devices-like the iPhone 11 from 2019-this could be a welcome boost. iOS 26 will ship with the iPhone 17 but will also be available as an update for models going back several years. Making the software feel faster could help smooth over mixed reactions to the Liquid Glass redesign, which has already sparked debate among early testers.
Of course, this isn’t a groundbreaking innovation-many Android launchers have had brisker animations for years, particularly on high refresh rate screens. Still, for Apple fans holding onto aging hardware, this speed illusion might make the wait for a new phone a little longer.