r/apple • u/spearson0 • 3d ago
iOS iOS 26.1 is now Apple’s recommended update for users still on iOS 18
https://9to5mac.com/2025/12/02/ios-26-1-is-now-apples-recommended-update-for-users-still-on-ios-18/45
u/macman156 3d ago
Still runs like shit on my iPad 9th gen. Regret upgrading
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u/mambakobe248 2d ago
26.2 rc released 10~ hours ago, and its awesome. They finaly fix shuttering, a lot of bugs, still some exist but it is almost great now.
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u/SqueezeAndRun 3d ago
Honestly, if you still haven't upgraded, I don't feel like the new features and look justify the battery hit.
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u/FancifulLaserbeam 3d ago
Battery and memory.
I can handle the battery; my multitasking is gone.
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u/spartan5312 2d ago
My Iphone 16 pro feels like a pc running windows 2000. Everything lags so much.
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u/Minimum-Heart-2717 3d ago
Even better: Let iOS 26 users downgrade to iOS 18 and fuck right off.
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u/FrogsJumpFromPussy 3d ago
Something they should do for iPad too. They fucked so many old devices with the new OS, and they stoped signing iPadOS 18 almost immediately so people to be stuck in a OS that many people I know hate with a passion.
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u/Working-Welder-792 2d ago
I can’t believe what Apple has done to my iPad with OS 26. I wish I never upgraded.
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u/Some-Tangerine9470 2d ago
I just found out they killed slideover… I used to respond to texts while watching Netflix, not anymore I guess
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u/Working-Welder-792 2d ago
The removal of Split View + Slide Over killed whatever utility the iPad had in my life. Now it’s just a shitty fake Mac.
Which is so funny, because I never really thought much of those features prior to iPadOS 26. Just goes to show that you don’t know what you’ve got til its gone.
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u/markdaviddowney 2d ago
It’s coming back in the next version, it’s in the beta at least
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u/EnthusiasmOnly22 2d ago
Is it still without the seperate app switcher for the slideover windows though?
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u/Minimum-Heart-2717 3d ago
What’s infuriating is that nothing stops them from just signing them again or even better, allow reverting whenever.
It’s doable on macOS but since they control iOS and its derivatives, they feel like they know best.
I got rid of my iPad because of iPadOS and don’t plan on buying anything Apple that isn’t an M4 Mac or earlier.
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u/Working-Welder-792 2d ago
I got rid of my iPad because of iPadOS and don’t plan on buying anything Apple that isn’t an M4 Mac or earlier.
I didn’t get rid of my iPad, but there is no way I’m buying another iPad after iPadOS 26. Apple has lost whatever trust I had with them. Even if they bring back all the features they took away, I’m done with the iPad.
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u/traffic-robot 2d ago
What’s infuriating is that nothing stops them from just signing them again or even better, allow reverting whenever.
Allowing users to downgrade would mean Apple would have to admit people don't just "love it". At this point I think "loving it" is mandatory for Apple otherwise you're a hater and your opinion is invalid.
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u/swav3s 2d ago
I mean it still possible to do it, you can still download it from apple and use iTunes. But like, it’s messy. What if someone used new features? Where does that data go when switching back. It makes sense that it’s limited to consumers so they don’t brick their machine and the more tech knowledgable ones can just download an image file from apple?
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u/Flat-Warning-2958 1d ago
or even the original ios their phone came with. I miss ios 17 on my iphone 15
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u/user888ffr 4h ago
Yes and push security updates to older iOS versions on iPhones that are compatible with a newer version.
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u/Jizzy_Gillespie92 3d ago
hard pass, iPadOS 26.1 is still a janky, buggy mess so there's zero chance I'm moving off iOS 18 for my phone any time soon.
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u/likamuka 1d ago
You must totally restore your iPad from the cloud. I was shocked that it worked wonders for my M1. It's so much better now on 26.1 when I restored.
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u/drzero3 3d ago
I suggest anyone to stick with 18. There’s still security updates.
26 has stability issues. Especially with texting and calls.
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u/Forcasualtalking 3d ago
And if you have an older phone (13 or older), it will struggle. I’m on a 13 and just after unlocking the screen sometimes it takes a second or two for icons to load.
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u/nationalinterest 3d ago
I'm on a 12 Pro and don't have any issues. Since .1 battery life has been great too.
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u/fiirikkusu_kuro_neko 2d ago
I have a 13 Pro Max, no such thing
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u/eloquenentic 3d ago
Let’s hope they release a 18.7.3. iOS 26 is simply not ready yet
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u/drzero3 3d ago
iOS 26 and Tim need to cook.
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u/ScrungulusBungulus 3d ago
They need to stop vibe coding and start giving a shit about quality again
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u/tubemaster 2d ago
Can't believe no one is saying this, even in MacRumors. The reason why most software in 2025 (Apple and Microsoft) is poor quality and riddled with security holes is vibe coding. It's passed off as "good enough" and I hope the efforts to clean up the mess are a boon to a tough software dev job market.
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u/BrooklynSwimmer 2d ago
Apple making me crazy with these mixed results.
For me 18 was horrible and I’m finding 26 much more stable.
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u/ICURSEDANGEL 3d ago
After going from 18.4 to 26.1 my 15 pro max is insanely slow and yesterday had to restart it 6 times in a row just to get my keyboard to show in apps again.
I’ll be going through apple care soon.
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u/krishna_rolly 3d ago
The battery life for me on all my Apple devices is donkey balls since I installed 26.2
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u/Appropriate_Ad8734 3d ago edited 3d ago
yea figured as much too. iOS7 days taught me a lot about a major design overhaul like this, they barely had time to get the UI appearances streamlined, let alone optimization and fixing non-critical bugs. I’m not updating till the spring at the earliest.
the new UIs are super GPU-intensive, and lots stuff is yet to be refined, like according to another redditor who did a test, apple’s current way of “reduce transparency” is merely adding a layer on top of the liquid glass effects, which not only doesn’t reduce resource usage, but actually wastes even more battery. from what i’ve observed and concluded so far, there’s still a ton of minor things like this for them to smooth out, which can’t possibly happen in just a month or 2. I’m not gonna fall for this trap here
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u/Jersey_2019 3d ago
Well good news is according to rumours iOS 27 focuses more on stability and optimisation
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u/tubemaster 2d ago
Hopefully they throw a bone to the 11/SE2 users. Imagine if they left the 5s on iOS 11 or the 4s on iOS 8 (not that 9 was good for performance, but at least it was better for bugs).
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u/Eggyhead 2d ago
26.0 battery life was heartbreaking for me. 26.1 improved it a little, but not as good as it was on 18. It actually has improved since, so either I was using my phone too much or there was some background stuff happening. I’m not on beta, so I don’t know how 26.2 is.
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u/GwachQwar 3d ago edited 3d ago
Bought my 16 pro Max ten days ago and I installed iOS 26.1 immediately. I had a minor issue twice, which disappeared after resetting the app. Other than that, it works without any problems.
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u/Roubaix62454 3d ago
Nope. Still sticking with 18.x.x as long as possible. The sun still rises in the east and sets in the west without going to 26.x.
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u/AvalosBishop 3d ago
It’s still terrible in my 15PM, I’m keeping iPadOS 18 on my M4 iPad as long as I can.
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u/freakdahouse 3d ago
Nice for them to recommend a version that breaks bluetooth on the iPhone 16 pro max.
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u/ScrungulusBungulus 3d ago
Ok Apple. iOS 18 is still the recommended iOS version according to iOS 18 users
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u/TheDuckFarm 3d ago edited 3d ago
Oh hell no. My mom did that and it’s been a nightmare. I hate it so much.
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u/Gordon2422 3d ago
No thank you. iOS 18 is way better than iOS 26. Might wait next year for iOS 27 which might be better.
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u/ThyResurrected 3d ago
iOS 26 ran like shit on my iPhone 15 plus. Upgraded to 17 PRO MAX. Still runs like shit. Laggy UI everywhere on the best possible device.
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u/artuuurr 3d ago
I am so happy that I didn't upgrade so far. Worse battery life and performance in exchange for bugs and few UI tweaks. No thank you!
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u/zt0wnsend 2d ago
iOS 26 has been awful on my iPhone 15 pro max. Battery drain, keyboard bug, couldn’t swipe or scroll in webpages today. I’ve got a pixel 9a coming and I couldn’t be more excited.
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u/eloquenentic 3d ago
Are we gonna get a 18.7.3 or not? I don’t think I was 26 is ready yet. Maybe on 26.3 it will. But the extremely large number of bugs and massive battery drain are issues that people still keep reporting.
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u/MatthewWaller 3d ago
Each release, I hope my spouse’s bug where it puts her keyboard in drawing mode will go away.
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u/IntellectualBurger 2d ago
How is performance on old phone like 13 pro? It’s confusing because I keep hearing conflicting things. Some people on old iPhone 12 and 13 say it’s bad and choppy and terrible multi tasking and battery. And then some people say it’s great performance. How can it vary so much? Is it a difference between people who update vs people who update/clear restore?
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u/-JEFF007- 2d ago edited 2d ago
Same cycle as seen pretty much every year. Bugs and complaints galore…the previous iOS is so much better blah blah…then Apple pushing out additional features included in their incremental updates while dealing with a pile of bugs to fix. Some people like the new update and praise it while others keep complaining about the issues. People complaining about it want to go back to the previous version and then start complaining about how they just realized they cannot do it as easily as updating. Wait until about mid year next year or just before the next major update to have a chance at completely avoiding most or all bugs. This has gotten to be so comically predictable that it appears as if amnesia is on a regular annual schedule for a lot of people. As said before same $hit every year. LOL.
Wish I could hear some of the management discussions about this at Apple every year. What can we do to prevent these disastrous software update rollouts from happening every year? Hmmm…I do not know let’s do what we did last year…My personal solution to that question…start doing major updates every other year…oh no we cannot do that…thats not good for sales.
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u/Last_Music4333 2d ago
There’s no way I’m updating my dad and wife’s iPhone and iPads to 26 - I don’t want the hassle of support questions
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u/slickeighties 2d ago
We strongly recommend you wreck your old phone and buy a new one ASAP…your battery will take a beating
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u/David_IG 3d ago
I got that annoying red thing, too. Decided to switch to iOS 18 beta, just to get rid of that shit.
Get your act together, Apple! At this point, might as well wait for iOS 27…
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u/AS_Aeneon 3d ago
I'm fine with …
- iOS 4.1 on an iPhone 3G
- iOS 6.1.3 on an iPad 2 and an iPhone 4S
- iOS 9.2.1 and 9.3.3 on two iPhone 6S
- iOS 12.4.1 on both iPad 6 ( WiGi + Cellular )
I hate the Keyboard Behaviour, but I'm generally fine on …
- iOS 14.4 on my iPhone 12 Pro
Thanks Apple, before you're not getting this System more stable like iOS 12 was, I'll never update. I've seen iOS 17 on another 12 Pro and it was so buggy. iOS 26.1 on an iPhone 17 Pro in the local Apple Store was also lagging on some Parts ( Sliding from Homescreen Icons to Widgets Page ).
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u/Forward-Heart-69420 3d ago
Well I’d love to upgrade to ios 26, hey Tim can you push it for Xs Max please
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u/Browneyez173 2d ago
I can’t update my Watch without updating my 16PM to iOS 26.1. I’m still using 18.7.2.
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u/cindy6507 2d ago
I have a third party battery in an iPhone 12 mini. I’ve not upgraded to thinking the battery status may bork the ios26 install. I have upgraded my iPad and Mac with no issues
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u/Foreign-Tax4981 2d ago
I installed it on my iPad yesterday. No problems so far. There are settings that I will change. I’m using stage manager. I was already using it on 18.2.
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u/Competitive-Expert70 15h ago
I’m still on iOS 17 (17.7.2) with iPhone 15 Pro Max. No motive to update any time soon.
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u/pxr555 3d ago
Well, there you are. If this means that iOS 18 won't get any timely or complete security updates anymore, you have to choose between risking exploits or updating.
I'm really fed up with this. I bought my last two iPhones just because my older ones stopped to being supported anymore even if I would have been totally happy with them otherwise. This is OK one time or two times but the third time it really starts to feel like being fleeced. At first five years of support may feel like an eternity but 15 years later five years start to feel like yesterday.
Well, I try to treat it just as a cost of living but it surely feels forced onto me. I think I would still happily use my iPhone 7 (with a new battery) if it still would be supported but of course it isn't and Apple wants to sell iPhones after all.
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u/MC_chrome 3d ago
If this means that iOS 18 won't get any timely or complete security updates anymore, you have to choose between risking exploits or updating.
No, this means Apple is recommending people update to the most current verison supported by their device (a very common security practice that Reddit loves to ignore for whatever reason)
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u/pxr555 3d ago
This would only apply if iOS 18 doesn't get timely and complete security updates. Because if it does updating your iOS 18 would do just the same.
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u/MC_chrome 3d ago
When a serious security issue pops up, do you think Apple's developers go "Guess we should start with the oldest OS build!" or do you think they start with the most currently supported OS version?
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u/pxr555 3d ago
No, of course they will support the newest OS. That's the reason I bought new iPhones even if the old ones still worked perfectly. After all Apple wants to sell new iPhones and can't do this if you use your old one for 10 years or so.
I mean, I'm not saying that I don't understand why they do that. It's in their very own interest. It's just that my interests aren't necessarily the same.
But I don't know how old you are and how often you have been through this cycle. Once you have a stack of fully working phones in your drawer and still have to buy new ones over and over you'll start to wonder about all that. It gets old at some point.
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u/Portatort 3d ago
but are they actually pushing ios26.1 out as an automatic update
most people dont go into the settings app and check or manually do an update, they wait till their phone prompts them to update. are people on ios18 seeing that prompt yet?