iOS 26's Release Date Is Almost Here, But Updating Immediately Could Backfire

With the reveal of iPhone 17 series smartphones at its Fall launch event, Apple also set the stage for software innovations that are headed to older devices. It's going to be a big overhaul for the mobile operating system, both in terms of form and function, when the iOS 26 update is released publicly for all compatible iPhones on September 15. You might be planning to jump on it as soon as the update notification arrives. However, you may want to wait a few days to get the best experience and, more importantly, avoid any performance hiccups.

iOS 26 is a massive year-over-year OS upgrade, featuring an entirely new design language and a whole bunch of new features. Optimizing them all for the diverse hardware at hand is a massive challenge. Naturally, some bugs make it to the final software seeded to the public via the stable channel, with bugs most often resulting in problems with battery life, heating problems, random app crashes, or other broken experiences. 

The problems are at their worst on older phones. First, these devices often lack the power for newer software features, so they are either slow or stutter. Additionally, older devices have batteries that have already gone through a few hundred cycles. When older batteries lose their charge retention capacity, it leads to throttling, which means sub-par performance and battery woes.

So, what's the best way forward for running the latest and greatest software from Apple? Well, don't install iOS 26 right away on its release day. Wait out a few days to see if there are any major bugs or performance issues in the new software. Millions of iPhones are going to run iOS 26 in the early days of its release, giving Apple a much broader view of any issues, and Apple's team will subsequently issue fixes for them. 

While being patient may be the most cautious move, it is worth noting that the experience with iOS 26 has been fairly smooth for users running the public beta builds. SlashGear's testing on the iPhone 16 Pro hasn't encountered any software bugs that have affected the phone's performance or battery, so far.  

Not all iOS 26 features will be available universally. The new features tied to Apple Intelligence, such as Writing Tools, Visual Intelligence, and AI-powered Shortcuts, are exclusive to the newer phones with the A17 Pro processor, or a new model. That means only the iPhone 15 Pro pair, the iPhone 16 series, the iPhone 17 trio, and the iPhone Air can run these experiences.