iPhone users who just installed iOS 26 might notice a reduction in their battery life, or that their phone is heating up. The devices might even be running a bit slower. A new Apple support document explains that this is temporary as the iOS update process continues in the background.
iOS 26 didn’t permanently slow down your iPhone
The iPhone operating system is immensely complex. It contains millions of lines of code. And fully installing it takes multiple steps that extend past the point where you might realize.
Just after installing a major update like iOS 26, parts of putting it fully into place continue in the background. And this can have an effect on performance until everything is complete.
As Apple explains:
“Immediately after completing an update, particularly a major release, you might notice a temporary impact on battery life and thermal performance. This is normal, as your device needs time to complete the setup process in the background, including indexing data and files for search, downloading new assets, and updating apps.”
Why some people don’t trust new iOS versions
After installing an iOS upgrade, some people are nervous that it’ll slow down their device. That’s especially true for those running older iPhones.
Some suspicion is understandable. Apple made a huge mistake years ago — one that cost it at least half a billion dollars. It started surreptitiously slowing down aging iPhone models. It claimed it was doing so because otherwise the devices could crash when their processor required more peak power than their nearly worn-out batteries could deliver.
But there were accusations that Apple was actually throttling older devices to convince their users to buy new ones. There was a huge lawsuit that cost the iPhone-maker $500 million. And other countries piled on with their own multimillion-dollar fines.
So Apple stopped throttling devices in secret. Instead, it lets users of older devices throttle these themselves to prevent battery-related crashes.
iOS updates are critical
Some people avoid all iOS updates on the belief that the best version is the one that came on their iPhone. That’s a mistake because iOS upgrades provide more than additional features — they are also how Apple distributes security patches.
Take the just-released iOS 18.7 as an example. Its entire purpose is to close a lengthy list of security holes.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
