iOS 26 is on the way, providing a fairly large software update to the iPhone and iPad. With a variety of new interesting features and notable visual modifications such as the appearance style of the liquid glass interface, the group’s chat survey of messages and personalized backgrounds, the new ringtones, the preview application, and much more, the excitement around the version is understandable.
But before jumping in the iOS 26 update on the iPhone or the iPados 26 update on iPad, you will probably want to take a little time to prepare your device for the next version of the main system software. Let’s review some of these useful steps to help you start.
1A: Will your iPhone work iOS 26?
IOS 26 has moderately strict system requirements and some iPhone models that support the previous iOS version will not support iOS 26. Overall, any new model device is supported, but here is the full Apple compatible iPhone list: Apple:
- All iPhone 17 models (pro, pro max, basic model)
- All Air iPhone models>
- All iPhone 16 models (pro, pro max, basic model)
- All iPhone 15 models (pro, pro max, plus, basic model)
- All iPhone 14 models (pro, pro max, plus, basic model)
- All iPhone 13 models (pro, pro max, plus, mini, basic model)
- All iPhone 12 models (pro, pro max, plus, mini, basic model)
- All iPhone 11 models (pro, pro max, basic model)
- iPhone se 3rd generation, and more recent
- iPhone se 2nd generation, and more recent
“All models” literally means all the models of this iPhone year, so for example “all iPhone 16 models” would include the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, in all variants of colors and storage configurations.
1B: Will your iPad execute iPados 26?
The iPados 26 are compatible with all iPad Modern devices, but it removes some models from management. According to Apple, the complete list of compatible iPad models includes the following elements:
- iPad Pro 11 ″ 1st generation and more recent
- iPad Pro 12.9 ″ 3rd generation and more recent
- iPad Air 3rd generation and more recent
- Ipad 8th generation and more recent, including the iPad A16
- iPad mini 5th generation and more recent, including iPad Mini A17 Pro
Many ipados 26 multitasking features will look and will behave best on larger screen devices, but smaller screen models always support the version and features.
2: Make sure you have enough free storage space for update
Many major Apple System software updates require a good amount of free storage space available to have room to install, and iOS 26 for iPhone and iPados 26 for iPad are no different. This represents a good opportunity to do a small housekeeping and get rid of old unused applications, unwanted multimedia files, old downloaded video content, excess caches from applications that download things like podcasts or streaming shows, and more.
Open the “Settings” application on your iPhone or iPad, head to general, then on “Storage” and take a look at the quantity of storage you have, and if you need to have opportunities to release storage on your device.
3: update applications
After cleaning and deleting unnecessary applications, another great thing to do is update all your applications, or at least the applications most used. Indeed, most application developers activate optimization applications for the iOS 26 version, and many of them are available now. This means maximum compatibility, but there can also be new features introduced, and it’s a good practice to update your applications anyway.
Open the “App Store” application, choose your profile photo in the area, then scroll towards the updates section. Choose to “update everything” or at least browse the list and update the applications you use the most.
4: Save your iPhone
You want to save your iPhone or iPad before installing a system software update. This is the most important step with questionable, because it preserves your data in case something is wrong.
In addition, saving your iPhone or iPad locally on a computer will give you the possibility of downgrading iOS 26 to iOS 18 if you decide that you do not like UDPATE, or if there is a problem of problem or compatibility with which you cannot work.
Always save the iPhone or iPad to iCloud first, and this should be part of your regular routine anyway.
For local backups, learn to save the iPhone / iPad on Mac with Finder or backup the iPhone / iPad on Windows PC.
5: Now you are ready to install iOS 26 / iPados 26
If you are confirmed that your iPhone or iPad is compatible with iOS 26 / iPados 26, you have erased a storage space, you have updated your applications and you have saved your iPhone and / or iPad, you are ready to leave. IOS 26 is planned for a large outing on September 15.
Go to the Settings> General> Update of the software and install yourself whenever you are ready!
What if I directed the iOS 26 beta?
If you have executed the IOS 26 beta versions, the RC version is already available, but otherwise you can update directly to the final iOS 26 from the beta version. After installing the final version, you will probably want to deactivate future beta updates in the software update settings on your device.
