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iOS 18.7 and WatchOS 26

AlecEdworthy

AlecEdworthy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 1, 2007
445
145
Leicestershire, UK
I have an iPhone 15 Pro on which I'm running iOS 18.7 currently, and on Friday I'll be taking delivery of a Series 11 watch which of course will be running watchOS 26. I'm a little reluctant to install iOS 26 on my iPhone right now because I'm away for a week from Saturday and from what I've seen online there's a short and potentially longer term battery hit with the update. Are there likely to be any downsides to having my iPhone on iOS 18.7 but my watch on watchOS 26, e.g. missing features, incompatibilities etc?

Thank you :)
 
AlecEdworthy said:
I have an iPhone 15 Pro on which I'm running iOS 18.7 currently, and on Friday I'll be taking delivery of a Series 11 watch which of course will be running watchOS 26. I'm a little reluctant to install iOS 26 on my iPhone right now because I'm away for a week from Saturday and from what I've seen online there's a short and potentially longer term battery hit with the update. Are there likely to be any downsides to having my iPhone on iOS 18.7 but my watch on watchOS 26, e.g. missing features, incompatibilities etc?

Thank you :)
Click to expand...
iOS 26 is required. Apple published a OS compatibility chart, you can google for that
 
Son of a… This was a disappointing reminder.

AlecEdworthy said:
I just hoped I could get away with iOS 18.7 for a week or so until I got back. Sounds like that's not going to be the case though.
Click to expand...
I was going to wait until at least 26.1.
However, I’m upgrading to (i.e., ordered) a Watch SE 3.
StumpyBloke said:
watchOS 26 needs iOS 26 it would seem.
AlecEdworthy said:
Where have you seen this please?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
On every (latest) Watch - Tech Specs page:
Compatibility: iPhone 11 or later, including iPhone SE (2nd generation or later), with iOS 26 or later
Click to expand...
www.apple.com

Apple Watch SE 3 - Technical Specifications

View all technical specifications for Apple Watch SE 3.
www.apple.com
www.apple.com

Apple Watch Series 11 - Technical Specifications

View all technical specifications for Apple Watch Series 11.
www.apple.com
www.apple.com

Apple Watch Ultra 3 - Technical Specifications

View all technical specifications for Apple Watch Ultra 3.
www.apple.com
 
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jz0309 said:
I installed iOS 26 on my 13PM, I like It and runs smoothly, and no issues with readability for me, and I’m in my mid 60s
Click to expand...
That's good to know. My concerns were more around the impact on battery life in the short (24-28 hours) and longer (72+ hours) timespan. I'd have gone to iOS 26 soon anyway, I'd just hoped to hold off slightly. The worst thing would have been getting the watch on Friday and discovering that to do anything with it I needed to update to iOS 26, so knowing now and making the shift today at least buys me a few days for the battery usage to normalise.

Thanks all.
 
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AlecEdworthy said:
That's good to know. My concerns were more around the impact on battery life in the short (24-28 hours) and longer (72+ hours) timespan. I'd have gone to iOS 26 soon anyway, I'd just hoped to hold off slightly. The worst thing would have been getting the watch on Friday and discovering that to do anything with it I needed to update to iOS 26, so knowing now and making the shift today at least buys me a few days for the battery usage to normalise.

Thanks all.
Click to expand...
I installed the RC last Friday and then the official version yesterday. For me, I haven't really observed any dip in battery life, sure, you try things out and such but every day I've been at around 50% at the end of day which is typical for me
 
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jz0309 said:
I installed the RC last Friday and then the official version yesterday. For me, I haven't really observed any dip in battery life, sure, you try things out and such but every day I've been at around 50% at the end of day which is typical for me
Click to expand...

Yep me too been on it since the second to last Beta and from the RC it has been solid. On the official release now and not noticed anything wrong with battery.
 
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AlecEdworthy said:
I have an iPhone 15 Pro on which I'm running iOS 18.7 currently, and on Friday I'll be taking delivery of a Series 11 watch which of course will be running watchOS 26. I'm a little reluctant to install iOS 26 on my iPhone right now because I'm away for a week from Saturday and from what I've seen online there's a short and potentially longer term battery hit with the update. Are there likely to be any downsides to having my iPhone on iOS 18.7 but my watch on watchOS 26, e.g. missing features, incompatibilities etc?

Thank you :)
Click to expand...
It should work fine, Apple keeps watchOS and iOS compatible within the same release cycle. You might miss a few new watchOS 26 features that need iOS 26, but core things like calls, messages, and activity tracking will still work. Waiting to update until after your trip sounds reasonable.
 
MmichaeelphH said:
It should work fine, Apple keeps watchOS and iOS compatible within the same release cycle. You might miss a few new watchOS 26 features that need iOS 26, but core things like calls, messages, and activity tracking will still work. Waiting to update until after your trip sounds reasonable.
Click to expand...
No it won’t work, as stated before. Lower watchOS versions will work with higher iOS but not the other way around
 
The only possible alternative here is to buy a Series 10 at some retailer on a discount and it will come with watchOS 11.
 
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