With iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, and macOS Tahoe 26.4, Apple is testing end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages, a security feature that is not currently available for cross-platform messaging
Messages sent by RCS that have end-to-end encryption will feature a lock icon in the conversation interface. As of right now, Apple is testing iPhone-to-iPhone RCS encryption, with the feature set to roll out for iPhone and Android conversations in a future iOS 26 update.
Messages that feature E2EE will feature a lock icon in the conversation UI, both for iMessages and RCS Messages.
It’s replacing unencrypted SMS. So the idea is that by default, you’ll have E2EE instead of ever having to worry about sending an unencrypted message. Signal is almost certainly better of course but its an objective inprovement.
I said this in another thread, but E2EE RCS allows users to hop from Apple to Android and still maintain security benefits offered from iMessage (or so I hypothesize to a parallel degree). This was my #1 reason why I maintain an iPhone, and now my time for GOS is coming.
Although, the picture says “Conversations labeled as encrypted are encrypted end-to-end, so messages can’t be read while they’re sent between devices.” Isn’t that what the TLS is, not E2EE?
TLDR; TLS can terminate encryption ant the centralized server and re-encrypt the message to your intended other end (your recipient). E2EE only allows the target recipient to decrypt, thus preserving message privacy from the middleman.
For RCS E2EE, metadata is still leaked to your provider, as they know where you are routing your message to.
