What is the difference between ios 18.6 and ios 26

Although I will try to remain objective and fair, my experience of iOS 26 is making me incensed. Without being too dramatic, I am absolutely and totally [insert expletive] off.

I have an iPhone 13. Obviously not the latest iPhone, but certainly not a relic either. Perfectly functional. Suits my needs.

Importantly, iOS 18.7.1 was working perfectly. I had no need to upgrade, except for one factor => it seems that Apple decided to make iOS 26 a prerequisite for upgrading the WatchOS on my Watch Ultra. A message along the lines of "To use the Watch App you must upgrade to iOS 26" was displayed several times when I tried to initiate the process. It's 'never' a good idea to force customers along a path that don't wish to take, but if you do you'd better make sure that the experience is positive.

In my experience, apart from the Watch App now working fully, there is nothing (absolutely nothing), about iOS 26 which I would describe as a positive experience.

My phone is now noticeably slow and battery life is much reduced. As 26 was installed several days ago I'd be surprised if these problems are related to indexing, which has been reported as only lasting a handful of days.

Frequently I can literally see each screen being 'built' in front of my eyes : swipe to a different screen => icon borders appear but are blank => then icons are 'filled in' => icons appear as a 'ripple effect' across the screen as they are populated onto each screen. Opening a native App, i.e. Phone, elements of the UI and content are constructed in a very noticeable way. Yes, this only takes a moment, but users should never see real-time visual processing like this. It's shockingly bad.

When viewing all open Apps (the carousel effect) swipe up rotates Apps to the right rather than returning me to the background screen (it seems that swipe up has been omitted).

Phone calls can take 20-40 seconds to initiate, whereas they used to be pretty much instantaneous.

Swiping left-right/right-left between screens results in a stuttering/juddering transition rather than the smooth visual effect that we are all used to seeing.

To use an analogy it seems that iOS 26 has been developed using an entirely different code, and is relying on outdated middleware to translate it into a format that an Apple processor can understand. Or perhaps an A15 chip simply doesn't have the processing power for 26.

iOS 26 is, without any exaggeration, the worst iOS that I've ever used. It really is that bad. The Liquid Glass UI looks, to my eyes, appalling. Totally unnecessary, and certainly not a justification for the problems that users are now experiencing.

Of course, Apple does not have a rollback option, which means that I'm stuck with 26.

Or could it be that it's a deliberate means of forcing a hardware upgrade/purchase through software-derived hardware obsolescence ?

In its current state I wouldn't recommend 26 to anyone. According to Apple Support, it is receiving a lot of feedback relating to iOS 26.

Make your decision very carefully...

I expect this post will be deleted.

Gurudev1 wrote:

Should I update my iphone13 from ios 18.6 to ios 26 ?

You will find people who LOVE iOS 26 and people who don't. It's a change for sure and some people simply don't do well with change.

For me, I think iOS 26 is a bold move forward, it's great looking and I LOVE Liquid Glass. But for some who aren't happy with change, I wrote the following user tip to help people make adjustments, which can, for them, reduce the effects of Liquid Glass if they don't like them --> Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community

To your question. You should at a minimum update to the last version of iOS 18, which is 18.7.2. Not updating leaves you vulnerable to exploits and bug fixes Apple includes in ALL updates. For iOS 26, you will have to bite the bullet at some point as Apple won't continue support for iOS 18 forever. And in not updating, you'll be denying yourself the securities Apple includes in updates, leaving you vulnerable, which honestly isn't a good thing to do, long term. There a host of new features included in iOS 26, so you should read the link CarolB provided above to familiarize yourself with what iOS 26 brings to iPhone.

On a final note, I know many who own iPhone 13, who are running iOS 26 without any issues. Don't believe every negative post you see about it.

"Should I update my iphone13 from ios 18.6 to ios 26 ?"

-------

Should you Update?:

That's YOUR call. But, before you do so, be certain you create a back up of your iPhone, prior to making any major changes to it (i.e. updates and app installs), whatsoever. That way, you can have something to restore it from, should anything go wrong with the update.

You can watch the WWDC25 video session (the first part is iOS) and then decide. The video is available on youtube. Just make sure to get one by apple, not a review.

i dont know if its too late but NO, DONT DO IT

I can't answer the "should" question, but here is Apple's description of iOS 26.

OS - iOS 26 - Apple

What’s new in iOS 26 - Apple Support

Since your phone is an iPhone 13, it can run iOS 26, but it will not receive any of the Apple Intelligence features.

If you want bugs galore and a slow phone, with gestures that only work on the 10th attempt, upgrade. On an older device, I think you are like to just experience problems. Remember you can’t roll back, so if your device has problems with it, you are stuck with it.

Bonjour,

La différence est que sur iOS 26, les graphismes sont meilleur et les fonctionnalité aussi : les touches deviennes rondes et ont quelques animations, cette mise à jour est bien.

Bonne journée

Cordialement

Mincc36

Mincc36 wrote:

Bonjour,

La différence est que sur iOS 26, les graphismes sont meilleur et les fonctionnalité aussi : les touches deviennes rondes et ont quelques animations, cette mise à jour est bien.

Bonne journée

Cordialement

Mincc36

Translation: Good morning,

The difference is that on iOS 26, the graphics are better and the functionality too: the keys become round and have some animations, this update is good.

Have a good day

An update to my previous reply.

iOS 26 has been so bad on my iPhone that I called Apple Support again yesterday.

Their guidance/instructions were :

1. Make sure I have a local backup (yes, on my Mac Studio)
2. Using a different Mac (in my case, my MBP Pro M3) restore the iPhone - this will ensure that a completely clean version of iOS 26 is installed
3. After iOS 26 has installed, unmount and disconnect the iPhone from the MBP and restore the phone from the local backup on the Studio

This process failed.

My MBP is now displaying the message "The iPhone "iPhone": could not be updated. An unknown error has occurred (75). 067E.004B"

I called Support - they instructed that I perform a hardware reset (+ volume, - volume, press/hold power), and then re-run the Restore process to install iOS 26 again.

This process failed and the same error message is displayed again.

My phone is completely unable to be used - in effect it's been bricked.

Support is now stating that my phone has to be sent in for repair. Support has stated that the phone is, as of now, completely unusable.

Support is now advising that I either have to go to an Apple Store or to send the phone via postal mail for a repair.

EXACTLY the same thing happened when I bought an iPhone 14 for my mother about a month ago. Bought an iPhone 14 directly from Apple; followed the setup instructions to update the phone using my Mac; the update failed; called Support; Support advised that the phone was no longer able to be used and had to be returned; the phone was replaced with a new like-for-like handset.

It seems to me that there are fundamental problems with iOS 26. It's bricking phones. Simple as that.

The only recommendation I can make is to avoid iOS 26 for as long as possible.

YanW wrote:

...

EXACTLY the same thing happened when I bought an iPhone 14 for my mother about a month ago. ...

...

Scientifically we could conclude that the common factor here is yourself rather than iOS26.

Difference of opinion.

I have personally had more than 10 hours of my life wasted as a result of, seemingly, Apple hardware and software incompatibilities. When Apple Support informs me that my iPhone 13 and the iPhone 14 for my mother were, in effect, bricked (although see my latest update, which I am about to post) and the outcome is that I have to return them to base or visit an Apple Store (which would waste even more time) then 1. I will not be positive in my review, and, 2. I will make a recommendation that others avoid the risk of the same outcome happening to them.

I would expect others to make the same recommendation, and would value reading that if I had not yet installed iOS 26 on a device.

Final update from me, then I'll leave this thread alone.

I managed to get my iPhone 13 back to life.

In short...

Disconnected it from my MBP M3 (Sequoia 15.71.).

Restored it using my Mac Studio (Sequoia 15.7.2) and the process was successful.

Then restored form the backup, which was also successful.

Does iOS 26 cause problems on iPhone models 13 and 14 ? I have no idea.

Is Sequoia 15.7.1 compatible with the restore process for iPhone models 13 and 14 ? I have no idea.

Are MacBook Pros M3 laptops compatible with the restore process for iPhone models 13 and 14 ? I have no idea.

All I know, as a 100% fact, is that two separate iPhones (and also being different models) were both left unusable after I attempted to perform a Restore in order to achieve a clean install of iOS 26. Users should not have to endure significant wasted time.

[Edited by Moderator]

YanW wrote:

Difference of opinion.

I have personally had more than 10 hours of my life wasted as a result of, seemingly, Apple hardware and software incompatibilities. When Apple Support informs me that my iPhone 13 and the iPhone 14 for my mother were, in effect, bricked (although see my latest update, which I am about to post) and the outcome is that I have to return them to base or visit an Apple Store (which would waste even more time) then 1. I will not be positive in my review, and, 2. I will make a recommendation that others avoid the risk of the same outcome happening to them.

I would expect others to make the same recommendation, and would value reading that if I had not yet installed iOS 26 on a device.

That's fine. And I expect people like me who are VERY happy with iOS 26 to let people know there is nothing wrong with it and it's fine to install. Keep in mind in the world of forums, people who are truly having no issues don't usually visit a forum to say, "hey, everything's great!" No, instead people who are unhappy are the most likely to post. Which greatly skews the posts on forums towards the negative.

Let me start - hey everything is great with iOS26.x

...and as part of testing i have restored and reactivated my phone several times without incident, including two recovery mode restores.on sequoia.

It is essential to follow the instructions exactly though.