iOS 26 contains a hidden (and really nice) ringtone for the iPhone 17

At its WWDC25 event earlier this month, Apple was keen to highlight the many useful new features and design tweaks in iOS 26, its upcoming iPhone software update. But iOS 26 contains plenty of less heralded changes too, including a few that Apple would probably prefer to keep secret.

Eagle-eyed beta testers, for example, have noticed a new iPhone ringtone hidden within the code. The discovery was made independently by a Twitter/X user going by the handle @8810cfw and Macworld’s Filipe Esposito, and later confirmed by the MacRumors analyst Aaron Perris.

It’s referred to within the code as “ReflectionAlt1-EncoreRemix.” As the name suggests, it’s a new version of Reflection, which launched as the default ringtone of the iPhone X and remains in widespread use. Like Reflection, the new version has a cool, glassy sound (likely a xylophone or similar instrument) and a frenetic rhythm. And you can hear it now:

If you’d like to compare that to the original Reflection, open the Settings app on your iPhone and go to Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone, then tap on Reflection; it will play through once as a sample. Remember to tap on the ringtone you actually want afterwards (assuming it isn’t Reflection) to reselect it.

Given that Apple hasn’t announced the new ringtone, it’s likely being saved for a later product release. The iPhone 17 will be here in the fall, coinciding with the public release of iOS 26.0, so the logical conclusion is that ReflectionAlt1 is going to be part of that launch.

On the other hand, because this is an early beta for developers only (the public beta program doesn’t even start until month) it’s entirely possible that this is merely leftover code from an earlier experiment, or that it’s currently planned for launch but will be cancelled later in the beta process. But we hope not, because it’s really nice.