GPT Image 2.6 Release Date: Status and Signals

Status at a glance

Short answer: there is no GPT Image 2.6 release date. The model's name exists in OpenAI's API spec, but nothing else about it has been published. Pages giving a specific launch day are guessing.

Timeline

What the October 28 spec change tells us

The commit is titled "Add 'markup' property to image editing endpoints." The field's description:

A transparent PNG overlaid on the first image to guide the edit. Must match that image's dimensions after orientation and contain transparent pixels. Supports GPT Image 2.5 and 2.6. Cannot be combined with mask.

Three things follow from it:

1. 2.6 is a real name inside OpenAI. It appears in published API documentation, not in a rumor.
2. 2.6 will support markup edits. That's the only capability on record.
3. It isn't released. The same spec's model enum for edits doesn't list a 2.6 ID; the default is still gpt-image-2.5-sunburst. "2.6" appears only twice in the whole spec, both in this description.

The spec doesn't say when 2.6 will open, what it costs, or how it differs from 2.5 beyond markup. What markup does and how to build a markup PNG is in What Is GPT Image 2.6?.

Signals that a launch is close

Watch for these, in roughly the order they've shown up before:

• A model ID in the spec. A gpt-image-2.6 value (or variants) in the edit endpoint's model enum.
• A model page in OpenAI's docs. The image section of the model list currently ends with gpt-image-2.5-sunburst and gpt-image-2.5-flare.
• A changelog entry. GPT Image 2.5 shipped with one on September 8.
• Pricing in the docs. Price per image or per token appears alongside the model page.

Things that are not launch signals:

• Anonymous Arena models. Aurora and Shooting Star names have appeared, but no public source ties them to 2.6. See GPT Image 2.6 Leak.
• Third-party code samples with "model": "gpt-image-2.6". That ID isn't in any OpenAI list, and calls using it will fail.

How fast could it follow?

There's no pattern to lean on. GPT Image 2 to 2.5 took about five months. A name in the spec before launch is a new situation in this line, so the gap between October 28 and a release can't be estimated from past versions. We'd rather leave the date blank than guess.

What to do while you wait

• Turn on the launch alert. Sign in and click Notify me at launch on the GPT Image 2.6 model page.
• Build on GPT Image 2.5 now. Flare and Sunburst are live on HiAPI at $0.025 per 1K image, $0.04 at 2K and $0.06 at 4K, with 1 to 16 reference images for edits. If 2.6 keeps the same request shape, switching is a model ID change. Request code is in the GPT Image 2.5 API guide.
• Prepare markup assets. The spec says markup works with 2.5 too. HiAPI's 2.5 requests don't include a markup field yet, but overlays you make now follow the published rules.

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FAQ

When is GPT Image 2.6 coming out?

OpenAI hasn't said. The only official trace is the October 28, 2026 spec change.

Is GPT Image 2.6 available in ChatGPT?

OpenAI hasn't announced 2.6 for ChatGPT or the API.

Was GPT Image 2.6 leaked?

Its name was published by OpenAI in the API spec, so it's documented rather than leaked. Separate anonymous models in Arena have been linked to it by some posts, without evidence.

Will GPT Image 2.6 cost more than 2.5?

No price has been published. We won't list one until OpenAI does.

Sources and update log

• openai/openai-openapi commit aa880040, October 28, 2026
• OpenAI model list and changelog, checked October 31, 2026
• TestingCatalog report on Aurora models, October 18, 2026

October 31, 2026: first version. We'll add an entry here when any of the signals above appears.