Starting with the iOS 26.3 beta, Apple appears to be laying the groundwork for carriers to be able to support end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages, and that news should actually have even bigger implications for the Messages app on the iPhone.
In order to offer E2EE for RCS, iOS 26.3 or later would need to support RCS Universal Profile 3.0, which includes many iMessage-like enhancements for RCS:
- End-to-end encryption, which will prevent Apple and any other third party from being able to read messages and attachments while they are being sent between devices, as has always been the case with iMessage
- In-line replies
- Edit messages
- Unsend messages
- Full-fledged Tapback support for RCS messages, with no special workarounds
RCS support as a whole was added to the iPhone with iOS 18, which supported RCS Universal Profile 2.4. It is effectively a modernized version of the SMS standard, which remains available as a fallback option for text messages over a cellular network.
The enhancements listed above were actually introduced in RCS Universal Profile 2.7, and iOS would finally get them by jumping to RCS Universal Profile 3.0.
Source:
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/13/ios-26-rcs-3-future-benefits/
Diem ‘Richard’ Nguyen
Liên Minh Bảo Hiến Mỹ Gốc Việt
Vietnamese American Conservative Alliance (VACA)
https://freedom-vaca.org/vaca-blog-tieng-viet-nam/