Apple Stops Signing iOS 18.6.2, iOS 26 Downgrades Now Impossible

[ThePinkChameleon]

Honestly, there's very little to be worried about on this front.

Based on everything I'm seeing and hearing, I'm planning to skip 26 altogether.

I’m hoping with future 26 updates that something helps battery life

I know I’m whining like a little b!tch about it but I really am p!ssed off about it all.

I know, I know, there are far worse things in this world to worry about than battery life….

 

[turbineseaplane]

I know I’m whining like a little b!tch about it but I really am p!ssed off about it all.

I think you have every right to be upset about it!

 

[ThePinkChameleon]

I think you have every right to be upset about it!

🫣

 

[Imperial926]

As I’ve said several times on this thread, my good old iPhone 13 is fine with iOS26. Elsewhere the only issue I have experienced is poor audio synch using AirPods Pro 2 with TVOS26. This was remedied by applying the 26.1 Beta.
My wife’s experience has been similar on her standard 16.
Many people use their phones more around the time of an update and I sense that battery concerns frequently emerge from this.

 

[I7guy]

Honestly… I’m wishing I didn’t update yet. I, by all means, do not micromanage my battery life, and for the simple things I do daily on my phone I’m so frustrated and p!ssed off how quickly my battery drains nowadays I find I need to charge midday which on ios18.6/2 I never needed to do. My battery would be good till I turned in at night…
Don’t want to be left behind on newer functionality, no…but at the same time I didn’t expect my battery to take such a hit like it did. So I can completely understand other user’s frustration as well. I’m right there with them.

Not sure why your battery life took a hit as obviously no way we can tell. I remember seeing posts about this in prior years. My daily battery life is about the same. I don’t micromeasure it, but it lasts a day.

I expect battery life to get better with future releases. Also my other phone 14PM gets about the same battery life on iOS 18 as ios26.

 

[FeliApple]

Not sure why your battery life took a hit as obviously no way we can tell. I remember seeing posts about this in prior years. My daily battery life is about the same. I don’t micromeasure it, but it lasts a day.

I expect battery life to get better with future releases. Also my other phone 14PM gets about the same battery life on iOS 18 as ios26.

Many words but no specifics. “I don’t micromanage it”. “I don’t know exactly”

“Also my other phone 14PM gets about the same battery life on iOS 18 as ios26”.

No it doesn’t and you know it.

It’s funny how those who defend iOS updates (not only you) never track battery life. They never give a number. They never know. It’s always either “it lasts the day” or “it may have been better before but I’m not sure”.

Especially funny is the reference to “it lasts the day”. I have an iPhone 16 Plus running iOS 18. In normal circumstances, unplugging early, say 5 or 6 am, I am finishing the day at, say 11 pm, with about 70-75%.

As you can obviously see, I can lose an absurd amount of battery life due to Apple’s malware updates while being technically right: my iPhone lasts the day.

As I always say: many words yet never a screenshot with detailed explanations.

 

[I7guy]

Many words but no specifics. “I don’t micromanage it”. “I don’t know exactly”

“Also my other phone 14PM gets about the same battery life on iOS 18 as ios26”.

No it doesn’t and you know it.

Yes it does and you know it. Most people with similar usage patterns between releases look at if their phone lasts daily. And are not concerned about small variations.

It’s funny how those who defend iOS updates (not only you) never track battery life. They never give a number. They never know. It’s always either “it lasts the day” or “it may have been better before but I’m not sure”.

Because most people who look at this look at starting and ending percentage over a period of time.

Especially funny is the reference to “it lasts the day”. I have an iPhone 16 Plus running iOS 18. In normal circumstances, unplugging early, say 5 or 6 am, I am finishing the day at, say 11 pm, with about 70-75%.

As you can obviously see, I can lose an absurd amount of battery life due to Apple’s malware updates while being technically right: my iPhone lasts the day.

I often wonder why some people claim to lose battery life with similar usage between releases and others don’t. I suspect it’s similar to measuring gas mileage.

As I always say: many words yet never a screenshot with detailed explanations.

I for one don’t need to substantiate anything. I don’t care if anyone believes me or not.

 

[FeliApple]

I often wonder why some people claim to lose battery life with similar usage between releases and others don’t. I suspect it’s similar to measuring gas mileage.

Easy answer: those who track it know what they’ve lost. Those who don’t, don’t know.

It is particularly difficult to gauge exact battery life by those who don’t track it if their usage patterns are more varied than not.

When discussing battery life with people who don’t care as much, I’ve noticed that pretty much all they notice are massive variations. By this I mean, when they cannot get through the day.

Like I said, with the massive increase in battery size and battery life, that is becoming more and more difficult with modern iPhones. Even heavy users will get through the day on a recent Plus or Pro Max.

Even an older Pro Max may only be suffering enough battery life impact after several major updates, not so soon.

As I said, you can get by with a massive loss before particularly caring if you aren’t the heaviest of users.

I’m sure that iOS 26 would incur a significant loss on my 16 Plus. I’m also sure that if I didn’t particularly care about tracking it exactly, I probably wouldn’t notice.

Name a percentage point and I can tell you exact SOT until that percentage point with my light, moderate, and heavy usage patterns. That is not normal. Even I can see that.

Those who don’t care as much won’t notice.

Perhaps they need a 30-40% drop in SOT to notice. That doesn’t happen after one major update. I’m even unsure of iOS 26’s impact. Some mentioned 15-20% on the 16 series, which sounds appalling for a brand new iPhone, but not too appalling so as to make it useless.

Which is why most don’t care about downgrading and keep updating. Which is why Apple gets away with this pathetic malware policy.

People accept that their devices get older and are therefore garbage. It’s sad, but it is what it is.