Maria Diaz/ZDNET
Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 26 -- yes, if you've not been keeping up, that's what will come after iOS 18 -- is finally here, and it's being pushed out to hundreds of millions of compatible iPhones worldwide. For the most part, the vast majority of these upgrades will be smooth and painless.
Also: Every iPhone that can be updated to iOS 26 (and when you can install it)
Maybe I'm being overly cautious here, but, as someone who's experienced a painful upgrade, I like to take a few precautions before I allow a new update to go wild on my system. And it's not like any of these steps are a huge chore or consume a lot of time.
First, will you even get iOS 26?
Good question. Every major release, I invariable get messages from people endlessly checking for an update only to find that their iPhone is at the end of the line of upgrades.
The good news is that if your iPhone is running iOS 18, then there's a very good chance that you'll be getting iOS 26. In fact, everything from the iPhone 11 and iPhone SE 2nd gen onwards will get iOS 26, and the only iPhones running iOS 18 that won't get upgraded are the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR.
Also: Every iPhone that can be updated to iOS 26 (and when you can install it)
So, starting Sept. 15, the release day of iOS 26, the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR will be the last in the line.
With that out of the way, let's look at how to prepare your iPhone.
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