Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Safe to download yet?
- Thread starter PPCmike
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Its safe but you may not like it. If there is some feature it has that you really really want and are willing to be stuck on it forever - even if you don't like it, - then install it.
Personally, I will wait until August 2026 to install ios 26, and still might not do it then anyway.
Personally, I will wait until August 2026 to install ios 26, and still might not do it then anyway.
Safe to download? Yes, there are no viruses.
As far as battery goes, Liquid Glass does take more battery for basic home screen navigation and such. Reduced Transparency to minimize the effects of Liquid Glass takes even more. So you will take a hit. Being on a .0 version of any OS, the battery will be worse than it will be in a few months of updates, but even then it will never be as good as iOS 18 because of the effects.
Go to a store and play with a device running it for a good long time before you decide anything.
As far as battery goes, Liquid Glass does take more battery for basic home screen navigation and such. Reduced Transparency to minimize the effects of Liquid Glass takes even more. So you will take a hit. Being on a .0 version of any OS, the battery will be worse than it will be in a few months of updates, but even then it will never be as good as iOS 18 because of the effects.
Go to a store and play with a device running it for a good long time before you decide anything.
After doing some testing I found that enabling "Reduce Motion" to stop most of the gratuitous animations put my battery usage back where it was with iOS 18. This is without "Reduce Transparency." Which as you say didn't seem to help anything and exacerbated the crooked icon issue in the Library and folders by using a gray background. But this is on a 13 mini, so may not apply to newer phones.
Plenty of websites still haven’t been fixed for ios26. Depends whether you would want to use them and whether your settings mean you would encounter the bugs.
Macrumors still hasn’t been fixed.
Macrumors still hasn’t been fixed.
It is always safe.
You will take a considerable battery life hit. But it’s safe.
You will take a considerable battery life hit. But it’s safe.
Just install it dude, you will live and be fine. It's just a phone.
Update to iOS 18.7.1 while you still can. The best time to upgrade to iOS 26 is by WWDC 2026
Not the best advice.
“It’s just a phone, why change what isn’t broken? Just stay behind. You’ll live”.
Nah, it's pretty sound advice IMO. People on these forums need to relax and remember that their lives do not revolve around their phones. It doesn't matter if your phone got a little scratch, or there's some new UI feature that you don't love. Who cares. There are more important things in life to think about.
So having the latest operating system doesn't matter, right? Why the FOMO? You don't need to be cutting edge to make phone calls and get texts.
The same thoughts apply to upgrading to ios 26. There are some really cool features as well added to ios 26. For me, I paid for these upgrades when I bought my phone and happy Apple has a robust development cycle to bring new features and capabilities to already purchased hardware. Some of us don't micromanage battery life. Getting things done easier to me is better than claiming the worlds' record with battery life.
When it comes to features, I posted this on another thread which sums up my opinion and viewpoint:
“On features, I have my mind pretty made up about that. You probably know I never update. I occasionally see changes for which I say “that is cool, I’d like that”. But while I don’t have that many devices, my iOS versions are varied, as I never update.
I have my Xʀ on iOS 12. A 6s on iOS 10 and another one on iOS 13, etc. I have every version from iOS 10 to iOS 18 barring iOS 11, 16, and 17.
And you know the only feature I notice when I swap between devices? Dark mode, from my Xʀ on iOS 12 to my 16 Plus on iOS 18. That’s all.
Game mode, notes app features, calendar showing reminders, all small QoL updates from iOS 18. Everything from iOS 13 to 17.
I notice nothing. That’s why I’ve never been enticed by features. Because for all intents and purposes, I care more about perfect performance and battery life than 99% of the features Apple releases.
Others may care, of course.
The spam call feature on iOS 26 is cool. Would it be an absolutely massive game-changer? No. I don’t receive a whole lot of calls anyway. It’s cool, but deep down I don’t care about it anywhere near as much to sacrifice 20% of battery life for it.
Oh… and I notice the calculator on my 11th-gen iPad on iPadOS 18 vs my Air 5 on iPadOS 15. That’s all.”
And you already know that ios 10 and ios 13 by today's standards are gimped and lose the full functionality of the product compared to the most recent ios versions. Whether one uses the features or not, the aforementioned operating systems are old. It's like using Windows 3.1 and making the same claims. What I care about is not "perfect" performance but equivalent performance. The phone has to last a day with my usage and not be "slow". Battery charging solutions are aplenty in 2025.
Striving for perfect performance is like putting the best gas in your tank with a broken engine. Anyway you know: YMMV.
Yes. But the point was clear: updating for features is useless in my case. I don’t use them anyway.
In any case, iOS 26 is safe to download.
Not according to Nielsen Norman Group
iOS 26 brings Liquid Glass controls laid over noisy backgrounds, jittery animated buttons, shrunken and crowded tab bars, collapsing navigation, and ubiquitous search bars. On top of that, it breaks long‑established iOS conventions, getting closer to Android design.
Overall, Apple is prioritizing spectacle over usability, lending credibility to the theory that Liquid Glass is an attempt to distract customers from iOS 26’s lack of long-promised AI features.
The interface is restless, needy, less predictable, less legible, and constantly pulling focus rather than supporting seamless access to content. Instead of smoothing the path for everyday tasks, iOS 26 makes users relearn basics while enduring a constant parade of visual stunts.
Apple may call it Liquid Glass. To many users, it feels more like a fogged‑up window: pretty from a distance, but frustrating when you try to see beyond it.
www.nngroup.com
The Bigger Picture
iOS 26 brings Liquid Glass controls laid over noisy backgrounds, jittery animated buttons, shrunken and crowded tab bars, collapsing navigation, and ubiquitous search bars. On top of that, it breaks long‑established iOS conventions, getting closer to Android design.
Overall, Apple is prioritizing spectacle over usability, lending credibility to the theory that Liquid Glass is an attempt to distract customers from iOS 26’s lack of long-promised AI features.
The interface is restless, needy, less predictable, less legible, and constantly pulling focus rather than supporting seamless access to content. Instead of smoothing the path for everyday tasks, iOS 26 makes users relearn basics while enduring a constant parade of visual stunts.
Apple may call it Liquid Glass. To many users, it feels more like a fogged‑up window: pretty from a distance, but frustrating when you try to see beyond it.
Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26
iOS 26’s visual language obscures content instead of letting it take the spotlight. New (but not always better) design patterns replace established conventions.
I think that’s the key to the whole article. Truer words couldn’t have been uttered.
Be prepared to Liquify your Ass when you upgrade to 26… That’s how unsafe it is…!
The only person who has to like iOS 26 is me. It makes no never mind to me which pundits weigh in with their opinions.Not according to Nielsen Norman Group
The Bigger Picture
iOS 26 brings Liquid Glass controls laid over noisy backgrounds, jittery animated buttons, shrunken and crowded tab bars, collapsing navigation, and ubiquitous search bars. On top of that, it breaks long‑established iOS conventions, getting closer to Android design.
Overall, Apple is prioritizing spectacle over usability, lending credibility to the theory that Liquid Glass is an attempt to distract customers from iOS 26’s lack of long-promised AI features.
The interface is restless, needy, less predictable, less legible, and constantly pulling focus rather than supporting seamless access to content. Instead of smoothing the path for everyday tasks, iOS 26 makes users relearn basics while enduring a constant parade of visual stunts.
Apple may call it Liquid Glass. To many users, it feels more like a fogged‑up window: pretty from a distance, but frustrating when you try to see beyond it.
Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26
iOS 26’s visual language obscures content instead of letting it take the spotlight. New (but not always better) design patterns replace established conventions.
Maybe check it out in an Apple Store on one of the phones there to see if you like the look of it before taking the plunge.