Skipping iOS 26, anyone else too?

[Torty]

I think it's the best for me to skip ios26. Never skipped a major release before. First time. So I can enjoy a snappy iPhone 14 Pro Max for months to come.

 

[FeliApple]

Do you mean 27? I’ve been staying on original iOS versions since iOS 7 was awful and since a forced update of my iPhone 6s and 9.7-inch iPad Pro from iOS 9 to iOS 12 and 13 gave me the expected (poor) results in terms of performance and battery life.

Once you see that device quality doesn’t drop, as long as your needs are met, I think it’s just the best approach.

My iPad Air 5 (M1), for example, runs iPadOS 15, my phone is an iPhone 16 Plus running iOS 18, etc. It’s a one-way trip for me, device quality never drops, battery life never drops. As long as it can do what I need, I’m fine. My latest A16 iPad (11th-gen) runs and will run iPadOS 18.

And Apple hasn’t improved all that much in software quality (in terms of performance and battery life on non-current devices; that is, they keep irreversibly worsening them).

Even if I wish they did so I can update, they keep worsening performance and killing battery life. I honestly wish I could get a like-new experience on 27, but not only do I really dislike Liquid Glass (a different topic and issue), but I know that I’ll get some battery life and performance drops. I find that unacceptable. Maybe in ten more years…

 

[kissfan]

If you do mean 26, my 14 ProMax runs it just fine.

 

[packeteer]

I was tempted, and I delayed a long time, but for security, I upgraded. MacOS 26 can diaf

 

[I7guy]

I’m all in to iOS 26 and will be all in to iOS 27.

 

[bransoj]

I think it's the best for me to skip ios26. Never skipped a major release before. First time. So I can enjoy a snappy iPhone 14 Pro Max for months to come.

I'm running iOS26 on an iPhone 12 and its fine so not sure you need to bother skipping it.

 

[I7guy]

I think it's the best for me to skip ios26. Never skipped a major release before. First time. So I can enjoy a snappy iPhone 14 Pro Max for months to come.

On iOS 26, my 14PM is working just fine. I wouldn’t want my 14PM to be unpatched.

 

[Bazza1]

On 26, but 27 is looking like a candidate for calling a halt to 'updates', especially if Siri / Apple Intelligence is as integrated into the OS as the hype suggests - and - most especially - if it loses the ability for users to turn both off.

 

[August West]

I skipped iOS 26 on my 13 Pro Max because I tried Tahoe on my M1 MBA for a couple of days before reverting to Sequoia. Hated Liquid Glass on macOS, figured iOS would be the same.

Then last week I replaced my 13 PM with a 17 PM so had no choice. I was prepared to return the phone if I hated iOS 26 but after doing a few tweaks I have it looking close to iOS 18. My biggest concern was legibility but that hasn't been an issue at all. So far the 17 PM has been great. Battery life as least as good as my 13 PM and I can actually see whats on the screen outdoors on a sunny day which was one of the reasons I upgraded.

 

[Bazza1]

I skipped iOS 26 on my 13 Pro Max because I tried Tahoe on my M1 MBA for a couple of days before reverting to Sequoia. Hated Liquid Glass on macOS, figured iOS would be the same.

Then last week I replaced my 13 PM with a 17 PM so had no choice. I was prepared to return the phone if I hated iOS 26 but after doing a few tweaks I have it looking close to iOS 18. My biggest concern was legibility but that hasn't been an issue at all. So far the 17 PM has been great. Battery life as least as good as my 13 PM and I can actually see whats on the screen outdoors on a sunny day which was one of the reasons I upgraded.

Yeah, I tweaked the bejasus out of 26 to lessen / kill off most of Liquid Glass as best as one can. Settings scattered and buried within the OS (as is Apple's wont), but reasonable success. Friends who see my screen are surprised to hear I'm on 26.

 

[tbgb50]

Yes and no. I put iOS26 on a spare phone last week just to take a look since I'll need a new phone someday. Did not care for it enough to put it on my daily driver. I'll repeat the process in the fall with iOS27.