4 Changes Coming To McDonald's Drive-Thrus In 2026

It's not clear who invented the first restaurant drive-thru, but it's generally claimed that In-N-Out created the first modern system, complete with two-way speakers. Since then, drive-thrus have been a staple of fast-food consumerism — to the point that some people will forgo a dining establishment if it doesn't offer the convenient feature. While many big things are happening at the Golden Arches in 2026, ranging from an expanded loyalty program to a focus on chicken, the iconic restaurant is also eyeing some major drive-thru changes. 

At the heart of McDonald's many drive-thru upgrades is a new restaurant platform to ensure essential computing power. In addition to employing AI to check order accuracy, AI chatbots may be popping up at your nearest McDonald's drive-thru window (if they're not there already). The restaurant is also working on improving the physical layout of its drive-thru lanes ands expanding its Ready on Arrival order option to more markets. It's no secret that McDonald's is meticulous about efficiency, and the company sees these emerging advances giving it the edge over its competition.

There's nothing that will ruin your night faster than getting home from McDonald's and finding items missing or incorrect. With an estimated 63 million people served by the chain every day, the possibility for human error is high. Within McDonald's larger deployment of AI-fueled tech is a feature called Accuracy Scales, intended to improve order accuracy in an efficient and streamlined way. To support this tech, McDonald's is implementing an in-house computing platform (courtesy of Google) called Edge, which will also accommodate smart devices in the restaurant's kitchens. 

While the technology is advanced, the process is simple: Orders are weighed to determine whether they meet a target weight. If the target and actual weights are mismatched, McDonald's personnel can check the bag before it's passed to the customer. It's not clear how the target weight is determined, but it's likely based on the number and type of items in the bag. In case you missed it, McDonald's had a previous dalliance with AI in its drive-thrus, but removed the technology in 2024 due to poor performance. The company hopes that new AI innovations grow trust with customers and allow McDonald's to personalize the experience it offers.

AI chatbots: First they take our jobs, now they're taking our fast-food orders (and also jobs). Following in the footsteps of Wendy's and its implementation of FreshAI, which uses chatbots to take drive-thru orders, McDonald's is pursuing a similar strategy at its drive-thrus. While plans have been in motion since 2019, McDonald's is betting on its new Edge restaurant platform to make the process more reliable and less prone to errors. Although AI is often touted as improving accuracy and speed, its use in fast food drive-thrus has remained controversial. 

For example, Taco Bell experienced numerous hiccups with its  AI-driven ordering system, including communication failures and glitches. Similar issues befell McDonald's initial AI program (implemented in partnership with IBM), which led the company to cease use of the technology in favor of another that offers greater accuracy. While the chain anticipates better luck with Google's Edge platform, keep in mind that 55% of those polled by YouGov.com would rather interact with a human when placing orders. While many American consumers worry about order accuracy, the primary concern with the technology is that it could take jobs from real, live humans. 

Back in 2023, McDonald's shared a massive plan consisting of multiple upgrades. Among the many modifications was a desire to expand drive-thru lanes, "improving the physical layout of the drive thru with additional lanes ... creates additional capacity, which improves speed and efficiency and ultimately leads to sales growth and strong returns," according to the corporate announcement. While McDonald's projected that upgrades would be completed in 2027, many locations already have the multi-lane drive-thrus, and it's likely that more will come in 2026. 

Multi-lane drive-thrus offer benefits like speedier order fulfillment and the capability to serve more customers. However, not all are convinced that multiple lanes will make their lives easier. One major issue is that patrons often don't know how to navigate multiple lanes, which can lead to bottlenecks and confusion. On Reddit, a poster accused McDonald's of simply creating the illusion of shorter lines. The person describes the layout as a "gimmick designed to make the line seem less long than it actually is." The poster received some pushback, however, with another commenter stating, "I've been directing traffic for drive thru for over a year now since our location has been so busy, not once has the two lane system failed." 

If fast-food simply isn't fast enough for you, McDonald's is expanding a program it created to improve drive-thru speeds. The chain is growing its Ready on Arrival venture to six additional markets to ensure customers get lightning fast service. The company is focusing on its most lucrative markets during the rollout, including the U.S., Japan, anf the U.K.. Other fast-food restaurants such as Chick-fil-A use similar technology to shave time off orders.

The tech relies on geo-fencing, which establishes a virtual boundary around a location. When a mobile device enters the predefined boundary, the geo-fencing technology begins to track and monitor it. With McDonald's Ready on Arrival program, geo-fencing is used to get a jump on order creation. Once a linked mobile device enters the boundary, staff inside the restaurant are alerted and can immediately get to work. McDonald's estimates that wait times for customers could be slashed in half. Like other upgrades, this program will be supported by the chain's Edge platform.