5 Major Changes You'll Notice At McDonald's In 2026

McDonald's may be a rock-solid stalwart at the top of the fast food world, but even the most successful chains evolve. Look back at McDonald's at its start in the 1950s and you'll find that many of the chain's signature items, like the Big Mac or Chicken McNuggets were later additions. And while nobody can know when the next iconic addition to the brand is coming, 2026 is shaping up to be a year of big changes at McDonald's.

2025 saw a few major changes of its own that are bleeding into this year. McDonald's kicked off the year with its first sales decline in years, which was at least partially blamed on customers reacting to higher prices. That led the chain to reintroduce extra value meals last year, and it's overhauling its menu again this year to try and continue capturing value-focused customers. 2025 also saw the shuttering of McDonald's experimental CosMc's locations, which had more of a beverage-focused menu. Opened in 2023, the CosMc's concept was short lived, but some of its successes should inspire future menu additions.

And if you thought you could get through an update about any company's changes in 2026 without hearing about AI, think again. It's part of a major technological overhaul tied to drive-thrus that is starting this year. Add in big expansion plans and menu experimentation, and customers could be looking at a very different McDonald's in just 12 months.

Maybe the biggest change to the menu this year is coming in the form of new drinks. Not just a new coffee or soda, but entire new categories. The company's new beverage-focused strategy, which is taking on the success of drink purveyors like Starbucks and Dutch Bros, was announced last year. In April, McDonald's revealed two new offerings of refreshers and "crafted sodas" would be added to the menu. The options include a Mango Pineapple Refresher with popping boba, a Strawberry Watermelon Refresher with freeze-dried strawberries, and an entry into the new realm of dirty sodas with a cream-topped Dr. Pepper, and berry Sprite with cold foam.

This focus on colorful fruity drinks comes from their popularity among younger customers, which has fueled the growth of soda-focused chains like Swig. Many of McDonald's new options were first piloted at its now defunct CosMc's locations, although some CosMc's options, like McCafe matcha lattes, weren't popular enough to make the jump.

McDonald's also plans to capitalize on another beverage craze with its own lineup of energy drinks. The full details have not been revealed yet, but McD's is set to debut at least one option, the Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer, in August. Given the massive growth in energy drink sales, and McDonald's own language calling these new menu items a starting lineup, customers will almost certainly see even more new drink options soon.

Improving service is another major project McDonald's is undertaking in 2026. From the customer's side, the biggest changes may be at the drive-thru. McDonald's is hoping to improve wait times by adding multiple lanes to more of its drive-thru locations, which will allow employees to serve multiple customers at once. McDonald's is also scaling up its "ready on arrival program" which uses geofencing technology to alert staff when a customer who placed an order through the app is getting close to the restaurant, allowing them to prep food so it's ready as soon as the customer arrives.

The new drive-thru service may also start to see the implementation of AI voice technology. This is something the chain has been working on for years, although McDonald's ended an AI partnership with IBM to develop the technology in 2024 after continued issues with order accuracy. It has instead shifted to a new system in partnership with Google.

McDonald's is also exploring the use of AI to improve service in other areas. This includes the use of cameras and weight scales to ensure order accuracy, and the use of AI programs to assist managers in duties like scheduling. There is even a test program that might be able to help diagnose equipment problems, like with McDonald's infamously unreliable McFlurry machines, before they break down. The hope is that using AI in these areas will free up overworked employees to focus on other important tasks.

At this point McDonald's is reported to have sold hundreds of billions of burgers over its history, but the future might actually be chicken. The chain has been adding a whole host of new chicken products over the past year, and is experimenting with even more. Last year, McDonald's jumped into the chicken finger market by debuting its new McCrispy Strips, and also brought back its chicken Snack Wraps to much fanfare. This has been paired with rollouts of new chicken-focused dipping sauces, like last year's Creamy Chili, and the debut of Hot Honey at the beginning of 2026.

Beyond that, McDonald's has been trying out more chicken items in test markets. The first is a new hand-breaded variation on McDonald's McCrispy strips, which have a much crunchier texture than the current offerings, and have been compared to Popeye's. There is also the possibility that McD's could bring grilled chicken back with two options — a Deluxe Grilled Chicken Sandwich and a BBQ bacon variation. And most surprising of all, McDonald's has also been testing breaded bone-in wings.

McDonald's move towards chicken is in-line with its concerns over value as beef prices have surged, making chicken more affordable in comparison. It's also a move to compete in a sector that is growing far faster than fast food as a whole, as chicken chains have seen strong growth even as the industry sees a decline in traffic overall.

McDonald's concerns over its value perception have been driving a lot of the chain's moves over the past few years, and 2026 is no different. The company brought back Extra Value meals last year, and it also added a new McValue Menu section. That first iteration lasted barely over a year, and now McDonald's is revamping the offerings. The Meal Deals — which offer a McDouble or McChicken along with 4-piece nuggets, small fries, and small drink — are staying for now, but the previous offer of buy one add one for a $1 has been replaced with an "under $3" menu. The options now include small fries, a 4-piece nuggets, and breakfast items like the hash brown and sausage biscuit, although some items currently offered, like the McDouble, may only be available for a limited time.

There have also been changes to McDonald's rewards, which have left some customers upset and dinged the perception that the company is focused on delivering value. It recently upped the cost of the free items you earn with your rewards points, increasing the cost of medium fry from 3,000 to 3,500 points, and a Big Mac from 6,000 to 7,000, for example. This has happened alongside the perception from fans that the special deals offered on the app have gotten less generous over the past year. McDonald's may say it's trying to bring back value-focused customers, but recent moves have people questioning that commitment.

For a while it had seemed like McDonald's maxed out its market saturation in the United States, but the company doesn't think so. The burger purveyor currently sits in third place for largest quick-service restaurant chains in the U.S. in terms of number of locations, at around 13,800. This is slightly fewer than it had a decade ago, when there were over 14,000 nationwide. But McDonald's has started expanding again, adding 159 locations in the U.S. last year, and it has ambitious plans for 2026 and 2027. McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski revealed the company aims to open 8,000 new locations worldwide to bring its total to over 50,000. And while the vast majority will be international McDonald's locations, 900 new stores are planned for the U.S., which would be the chain's largest growth spurt in decades.

This is a marked change from its previous strategy. While McDonald's has continued to expand overseas, it had plateaued at between 13,500 and 14,000 U.S. locations since the early 2000s. This was partly deliberate, as the chain focused on efficiency and growing sales at existing locations to counter tough competition from other fast food burger chains. However McDonald's has seen real success in growing its sales over the last year, and it appears to think the time is right to strike. So a lot of Americans may be seeing a new McDonald's for the first time in a long time.