Apple’s iOS 26.5 extends end-to-end encrypted messaging to cross-platform RCS conversations between iPhone and Android users for the first time, reducing the risk that carrier-routed SMS/MMS traffic can be intercepted. Backed by a GSMA open specification, the change raises the baseline for mobile communications security across both consumer and enterprise environments. For security leaders, this signals a meaningful reduction in plaintext message exposure at carrier infrastructure, a channel historically targeted for surveillance, SIM-based interception, and SS7 attacks, and elevates the urgency of iOS 26.5 adoption given the update also patches numerous CVEs.