iOS 26.6 ― Bug Fixes, Changes, and Improvements

[Omega Mac]

Did everyone panic updating all at the same time, brick US cell carriers? 😅

 

[Hans300]

Maybe Iran is hacking US tech services...?

 

[Harddrive]

Updated everything I guess their servers were hit hard one of the slowest updates I have done in awhile.

 

[sw1tcher]

Updated and now I cannot get a cell signal. It's stuck on SOS 🙄

Restarted. Nothing.
Force restart. Nothing
Turn Airplane Mode on then off. Nothing.


View attachment 2648299


EDIT... did a Reset Network Settings. Nothing.

Started hearing a bunch of back-to-back Ding! Ding! Ding! SMS alert sounds. Thought the iPhone was going crazy until I noticed it was because it picked up a cell signal. So a nearly 4.5 hour outage for me.

 

[burnout8488]

Everyone’s saying T-Mobile is to blame but the only people without service are the ones that just updated to 26.6.. how does that make sense? Non-updated Tmo devices in my house are fine, never dropped service at all. The only device without service had it occur immediately after 26.6.

 

[Harddrive]

I am all AT&T never lost service.

 

[eveluvsrainbows]

Updated and now I cannot get a cell signal. It's stuck on SOS 🙄

Restarted. Nothing.
Force restart. Nothing
Turn Airplane Mode on then off. Nothing.


View attachment 2648299


EDIT... did a Reset Network Settings. Nothing.

That is not because of an iOS issue. T-Mobile was down. Maybe next time instead of blaming an iOS update (which would not kill cell signal in the first place because Apple QA’s this stuff), maybe assume that there is an outage with your cell carrier instead.

 

[eveluvsrainbows]

Everyone’s saying T-Mobile is to blame but the only people without service are the ones that just updated to 26.6.. how does that make sense? Non-updated Tmo devices in my house are fine, never dropped service at all. The only device without service had it occur immediately after 26.6.

No, it isn’t. You quite literally can’t say it was because of the 26.6 update because even T-Mobile themselves said that there was/is an outage, and its almost guaranteed that there were devices not running 26.6 that were impacted:

T-Mobile 'actively working' to fix ongoing outage, iPhone SOS mode - 9to5Mac

T-Mobile is down across the United States, and many iPhone users are seeing "SOS" in their device's status bar.

9to5mac.com

Apple tests this stuff before they release updates, they wouldn’t release an update that would bork signal, esp. not on a single carrier only. They have a robust test suite that they run before they release each update.

 

[sw1tcher]

That is not because of an iOS issue. T-Mobile was down. Maybe next time instead of blaming an iOS update (which would not kill cell signal in the first place because Apple QA’s this stuff), maybe assume that there is an outage with your cell carrier instead.

You say Apple QA's this stuff and yet OS updates have been known to cause issues in the past

Apple Fixes Bug That Bricked Some Intel Macs After macOS Monterey Install

Apple has fixed an issue that could cause some Intel Macs with a T2 chip to fail to boot up after macOS Monterey was installed, Apple said in a statement. There was a problem with the firmware on the Apple T2 security chip that prevented some users from being able start their Macs after updating...

www.macrumors.com

macOS Monterey 12.3 Update Bricking Macs That Have Had Logic Board Replacements

The latest macOS Monterey update, released to the public this week, is bricking Macs that have had their logic boards replaced, causing panic among customers who are unable to get their Mac back to a working state, according to a cluster of user reports posted on social media and Apple's support...

www.macrumors.com

Apple Pulls iPadOS 18 for M4 iPad Pro After Bricking Complaints [Updated]

Apple stopped signing the iPadOS 18 update for the M4 iPad Pro models, which means the new software is no longer available to be downloaded and installed at the current time. The update appears to have been pulled following complaints from some iPad Pro owners, who found that the update bricked...

www.macrumors.com

There are reports on Reddit from ‌iPad Pro‌ users who had an interruption in the installation process, leading to an iPad that refused to turn on. A total replacement was required for affected users.


Note the part ^ in bold

 

[James6s]

Of course I don’t. The newest devices I have run iOS (and iPadOS) 18.3(.1). And I’m glad, Liquid Glass is (subjectively) ugly.

You can take steps to minimise the Liquid Glass effect if you don’t like it.
Personally I love it, best redesign in years!

I know you won’t, but I think iOS 26 is now safe to install with the release 26.6. It’s taken Apple a shockingly long time to get iOS 26 stable.

Post #44 16 Pro user & post #75 iPhone 15 user reporting improvements with 26.6.

 

[Omega Mac]

Started hearing a bunch of back-to-back Ding! Ding! Ding! SMS alert sounds. Thought the iPhone was going crazy until I noticed it was because it picked up a cell signal. So a nearly 4.5 hour outage for me.

Downdetector was showing multiples of mobile carriers in the top 10 or so, with T-Mobile being the flagship. I guess many might be reselling off the same infrastructure, maybe T-Mobiles?

Thus they all went down together.

 

[FeliApple]

You can take steps to minimise the Liquid Glass effect if you don’t like it.
Personally I love it, best redesign in years!

I’ve seen what we can do on 26, but to be honest, it still looks like glass. I vastly prefer iOS 18.

27 improves on that, but it’s still glass. Better than 26, far worse than 18.

To be honest, pretty much the only thing that could make me update is if Apple released a new iOS version that looks like iOS 6.

I know you won’t, but I think iOS 26 is now safe to install with the release 26.6. It’s taken Apple a shockingly long time to get iOS 26 stable.

Post #44 16 Pro user & post #75 iPhone 15 user reporting improvements with 26.6.

Like I said above, maybe it improves vs earlier versions of 26, but I don’t think it works like iOS 18 does. I’ve updated to final (or near-final versions) and it worsened the device anyway.

Now there’s the added condiment of 26 being an especially poor quality version AND the design isn’t for me.

Also, as I’m writing to you, a stray notification flies to my iPhone…

 

[Scott LaPointe]

ugh.... all my homepods updated and now none of them will connect - saying network issue (which there isn't)

 

[James6s]

I’ve seen what we can do on 26, but to be honest, it still looks like glass. I vastly prefer iOS 18.

27 improves on that, but it’s still glass. Better than 26, far worse than 18.

To be honest, pretty much the only thing that could make me update is if Apple released a new iOS version that looks like iOS 6.

Like I said above, maybe it improves vs earlier versions of 26, but I don’t think it works like iOS 18 does. I’ve updated to final (or near-final versions) and it worsened the device anyway.

Now there’s the added condiment of 26 being an especially poor quality version AND the design isn’t for me.

Also, as I’m writing to you, a stray notification flies to my iPhone… View attachment 2648423

If you don’t like the Liquid Glass effect, then you don’t like it! It can be minimised but obviously not as far as you would like.

That notification is a sign! Lol. I’m sure your 16 Plus would run iOS 26 just fine (especially the latest 26.6) they’ve definitely been working hard to get it to a decent state. But it maybe that the second major software version after iOS 18 for the 16 Plus will be better with iOS 27…. But you aren’t going to leave iOS 18 ever 😃

One question I always have when you state you’re staying on iOS 18, are you not concerned about your device security being exploited? Later versions always come with critical security patches and many were included with iOS 26.6.

Each to their own ✌️

 

[FeliApple]

If you don’t like the Liquid Glass effect, then you don’t like it! It can be minimised but obviously not as far as you would like.

Yeah, not much I can do to restore the look.

I unwittingly updated the Telegram app and it came with the Liquid Glass design. It’s horrible to me, and I even went to the extreme of enabling grayscale to see how much I could minimise the impact of Liquid Glass…

…yeah. It still looks like glass to me. I’m definitely not liking 26.

That notification is a sign! Lol. I’m sure your 16 Plus would run iOS 26 just fine (especially the latest 26.6) they’ve definitely been working hard to get it to a decent state. But it maybe that the second major software version after iOS 18 for the 16 Plus will be better with iOS 27…. But you aren’t going to leave iOS 18 ever 😃

If by running fine you mean a 15-20% battery life penalty vs iOS 18, sure. And I keep iPhones for years and don’t replace batteries. Battery health would play a part with Liquid Glass as it drops, whereas it would stay steady on iOS 18 (years of experience keeping iPhones on original versions have shown me this). Once I update, I can’t go back.

Like I said, I’d have to try a 16 Plus on 26.6 myself and see what the difference is. People’s expectations, requirements, and attention are all so different that maybe somebody says “it’s fine” and they’ve never looked at the battery page, so they have no idea how not “fine” it is.

Point is, I can’t trust people with this, as they’ve repeatedly shown a massive, unwavering penchant for saying “it’s fine” with absolutely garbage updates.

One question I always have when you state you’re staying on iOS 18, are you not concerned about your device security being exploited? Later versions always come with critical security patches and many were included with iOS 26.6.

Each to their own ✌️

View attachment 2648447
View attachment 2648446

Security is an unwinnable race. I keep devices forever even after upgrading. What happens when my device loses support? It’s “insecure” anyway.

And what do I have? An updated piece of junk that can’t even play music for two hours without draining its battery, full of lag and with severe performance issues.

Guess what? Even fully updated, it’s still insecure.

Security updates are an illusion that people fall for repeatedly, killing devices to partake in a race they can never win.

An unpopular opinion, sure, but that’s what I think. They keep killing devices that will end up being insecure anyway.

Regardless, I do hope that 26.6 is indeed better than earlier versions of 26 for those unfortunate enough to be running 26 on non-17 series iPhones.

 

[James6s]

Yeah, not much I can do to restore the look.

I unwittingly updated the Telegram app and it came with the Liquid Glass design. It’s horrible to me, and I even went to the extreme of enabling grayscale to see how much I could minimise the impact of Liquid Glass…

…yeah. It still looks like glass to me. I’m definitely not liking 26.

If by running fine you mean a 15-20% battery life penalty vs iOS 18, sure. And I keep iPhones for years and don’t replace batteries. Battery health would play a part with Liquid Glass as it drops, whereas it would stay steady on iOS 18 (years of experience keeping iPhones on original versions have shown me this). Once I update, I can’t go back.

Like I said, I’d have to try a 16 Plus on 26.6 myself and see what the difference is. People’s expectations, requirements, and attention are all so different that maybe somebody says “it’s fine” and they’ve never looked at the battery page, so they have no idea how not “fine” it is.

Point is, I can’t trust people with this, as they’ve repeatedly shown a massive, unwavering penchant for saying “it’s fine” with absolutely garbage updates.

Security is an unwinnable race. I keep devices forever even after upgrading. What happens when my device loses support? It’s “insecure” anyway.

And what do I have? An updated piece of junk that can’t even play music for two hours without draining its battery, full of lag and with severe performance issues.

Guess what? Even fully updated, it’s still insecure.

Security updates are an illusion that people fall for repeatedly, killing devices to partake in a race they can never win.

An unpopular opinion, sure, but that’s what I think. They keep killing devices that will end up being insecure anyway.

Regardless, I do hope that 26.6 is indeed better than earlier versions of 26 for those unfortunate enough to be running 26 on non-17 series iPhones.

There must be many users on this forum using iPhone 16 series on iOS 26? I’m sure you’ll keep an eye out for those! It’ll give you a good idea of how yours would fare on it.

It’ll be interesting to hear people’s thoughts once their devices have settled down following the update…

Your iPhone 16 Plus certainly won’t become a useless piece of junk on iOS 26.6, that may come many years and many software updates down the line, although newer iPhones are ridiculously overpowered vs 5+ years ago, so the impact on performance won’t be as bad as it once was.

As battery health inevitability declines then it’ll have a bigger impact running the latest software version.

 

[Artemiz]

If you don’t like the Liquid Glass effect, then you don’t like it! It can be minimised but obviously not as far as you would like.

That notification is a sign! Lol. I’m sure your 16 Plus would run iOS 26 just fine (especially the latest 26.6) they’ve definitely been working hard to get it to a decent state. But it maybe that the second major software version after iOS 18 for the 16 Plus will be better with iOS 27…. But you aren’t going to leave iOS 18 ever 😃

One question I always have when you state you’re staying on iOS 18, are you not concerned about your device security being exploited? Later versions always come with critical security patches and many were included with iOS 26.6.

Each to their own ✌️

View attachment 2648447
View attachment 2648446

I don’t think that’s going to affect him as he won’t be updating to 26 or 27.

 

[James6s]

I don’t think that’s going to affect him as he won’t be updating to 26 or 27.

No, he definitely won’t! No point even suggesting it 😃

 

[Artemiz]

No, he definitely won’t! No point even suggesting it 😃

Yet somehow he consistently comments in iOS forums, downplaying and sometimes outright dismissing the positive experiences while amplifying some cherry-picked negative comments from Reddit.

 

[FeliApple]

There must be many users on this forum using iPhone 16 series on iOS 26? I’m sure you’ll keep an eye out for those! It’ll give you a good idea of how yours would fare on it.

It’ll be interesting to hear people’s thoughts once their devices have settled down following the update…

Your iPhone 16 Plus certainly won’t become a useless piece of junk on iOS 26.6, that may come many years and many software updates down the line, although newer iPhones are ridiculously overpowered vs 5+ years ago, so the impact on performance won’t be as bad as it once was.

As battery health inevitability declines then it’ll have a bigger impact running the latest software version.

Yeah, iOS 26 is a shame because Apple had massively improved on this. The iPhone 11 onwards were all mostly fine on iOS 18, sure, with the occasional performance drop, but they were fine.

26 threw a wrench into this status quo and even the 16 series suffered.

I hope that 26.6 is indeed a widespread improvement for everyone vs earlier 26 versions, it is about time, but I fear there’s something fundamentally wrong with 26, and I fear that Liquid Glass’ increased power consumption can be improved but not corrected.

Liquid Glass appears to be intrinsically more resource-intensive. Let’s see what 27 brings to the table, but I have serious doubts that they’ll ever reach iOS 18-like quality.

 

[PSLeeT]

iOS 26.6​

Developer Release Date ― July 20, 2026
Public Release Date ― July 27, 2026
Build Number ― 23G71
Darwin Kernel Version ―

This update includes bug fixes, security updates and optimizes the Spotlight index to prepare for iOS 27.

iOS 26.6 Beta Release Notes

New Issues
Remaining Issues
Resolved Issues
Features
Additional Notes

• Developers and testers can report bugs using the Feedback app. If you put your settings back on “None” for the betas, you can still open the app by entering the following URL in Safari:
• iOS 26 Overview
• iOS 26 Press Release
• iOS 26 Release Notes
• iOS Beta Release Notes
• iOS Security Updates

Spoiler: Modem Firmware

• iPhone 17 series: 1.70.01
• iPhone Air: 2.05.04
• iPhone 16 series: 2.70.01
• iPhone 16e: 2.02.03
• iPhone 15 series: 3.70.01
• iPhone 14 series: 4.51.04
• iPhone 13 series and iPhone SE (3rd gen): 5.51.02
• iPhone 12 series: 5.10.01
• iPhone 11 series, iPhone SE (2nd gen) and iPad Air (Cellular, 4th gen): 6.50.00

Spoiler: Carrier Version

Australia

• Optus - 64.5.8
• Telstra - 64.5.13
• Vodafone AU - 70.0

Belgium

• BASE - 33.0
• Orange B - 58
• Proximus - 45.0
• Telenet - 66.0

Brazil (info updated 26.6b1, last change in 26.5RC)

• Claro Brasil - 70.0
• Vivo - 70.0
• TIM -
• Oi - declared bankrupt in Nov 10th 2025

Canada

• Bell - 62.8
• Fido - 56.0
• Fizz - 53.0
• Freedom/Shaw Mobile - 54.8.6
• Mint Mobile - 58.0
• Public Mobile - 54.8.4
• Rogers - 70.0
• Telus - 54.8.8
• Videotron - 53.0
• Virgin Mobile - 50.0

Denmark

• 3 DK - 46.7.11
• TDC 69.5
• Norlys 69.5

Finland

• DNA - 58.5.7

France

• Bouygues Telecom - 40.0
• Orange France - 70.0
• Free - 70.0
• SFR -

Germany

• Vodafone.de - 70.0 and RCS enabled
• Telekom.de - 70.1 and RCS enabled
• o2-de - 61.6.1 RCS enabled

Greece:

• Cosmote - 38.0

Guatemala

• TIGO GT - 49.0

India

• Airtel - 58.5.18
• Jio - 69.0 (iPhone) and 58.5.18 (iPad)
• Vi India (Vodafone Idea) - 58.5

Ireland

• Eir - 33.5
• Vodafone IE - 38.0

Mexico

• AT&T - 57.0
• Telcel - 57.6

Morocco

• Orange - 50.0

Netherlands

• KPN - 70.0
• Vodafone NL - 68.0
• Odido - 68.0

Poland

• T-Mobile - 64.5.4
• Orange - 70.0
• Play - 61.0
• Plus - 61.0

Portugal

• Vodafone P - 40.0

Romania

• Orange RO - 55.0

Slovakia

• Orange SK - 57.6

Southeast Asia

• Singapore Singtel -
• Philippines Globe - 70.0
• Philippines Globe (iPad) - 38.0
• Philippines Smart - 70.0
• Thailand AIS - 53.0
• Thailand DTAC - 53.0
• Malaysia Umobile - 33.0
• Malaysia Maxis -33.0
• Malaysia Digi -
• Malaysia celcom -
• Hong Kong - 32.0
• Taiwan -

Spain

• Orange ES - 70.0
• DIGI ES - 54.8.4
• Vodafone ES - 54.8.8
• Movistar - 70.0
• Yoigo - 70.0

Sweden

• Comviq -
• Tre - 31.0

Switzerland

• Salt - 58.0
• Sunrise - 70.0
• Swisscom - 70.0

Turkey

• Turkcell (Lifecell) - 36.5.5
• Vodafone TR - 32.0
• Turk Telekom - 32.0

United Kingdom

• BT-UK (EE MVNO) -
• EE - 70.0
• Giffgaff (O2 MVNO) -
• iD Mobile (Three MVNO) - 70
• Lebara (Vodafone MVNO) - 67.5.1
• Lyca (EE MVNO) -
• Mozillion (EE MVNO) - 67.0
• O2-UK - 69.5.2
• Sky (O2 MVNO) - 69.5.1
• Three - 69.0
• Virgin Mobile (O2 MVNO) -
• Vodafone UK - 64.5.5
• Smarty (Three MVNO) - v70.0

United States

• AT&T - 70.0.1
• Boost - 57.0
• Cricket - 60.5.5
• FirstNet - 55.0
• FirstNet (iPad) - 41.7.6
• Metro (TMO MVNO) - 70.0
• Spectrum (VZW MVNO) - 70.0
• T-Mobile - 70.0
• TracFone/Straight Talk/Walmart Family Mobile - 63.5
• U.S. Cellular - 46.7.24
• Ultra/Mint Mobile (TMO MVNO) - 64.5.16
• Verizon - 70.0
• Visible (VZW MVNO) - 70.0
• Xfinity Mobile - 67.5.1

Other

• Docomo - 32.5.10
• AlwaysOnline -

Historical beta release chart

iOS Version History Chart

iOS version history chart

www.thinkybits.com

Homekit completely reset all my bridged Powerview devices and moved them to the room where the bridge was. It also renamed a bunch of my individual outlets (Eve Home) to the name the "outlet box" had. In many cases it also erased scenes that only contained these devices, and removed them from other scenes.

 

[James6s]

Liquid Glass appears to be intrinsically more resource-intensive. Let’s see what 27 brings to the table, but I have serious doubts that they’ll ever reach iOS 18-like quality.

Check out some YouTube videos on the oldest supported iPhone for iOS 27, the 11 series - running surprisingly well on the early betas! Should improve as time goes by.
Maybe even more stable than the late stage iOS 26 we’re at now.