iPhone 11 iPhone 11 on 17.4: Upgrade or not?

[Ctrlos]

I've had the fortune to buy a refurb iPhone 11 which has had a new screen fitted and 86% in the tank.

It must have been sat on someone's shelf for a while as its still on iOS 17.4.

I plan on using this as my daily driver and I'm wondering if anyone with experience of it on 18.X can tell me if the newer features are worth the upgrade or whether I should keep it on the older OS?

 

[FeliApple]

I've had the fortune to buy a refurb iPhone 11 which has had a new screen fitted and 86% in the tank.

It must have been sat on someone's shelf for a while as its still on iOS 17.4.

I plan on using this as my daily driver and I'm wondering if anyone with experience of it on 18.X can tell me if the newer features are worth the upgrade or whether I should keep it on the older OS?

I am a firm advocate for never updating iOS. I’m running iOS 18.3.1 on my 16 Plus and I will always run that version. I’m running iOS 12 on my iPhone Xʀ.

That said… I had to update two family members’ iPhone 11 this year, to iOS 18, due to compatibility reasons. One was running iOS 14.6, the other one, iOS 15.5.

I tested the one on iOS 14.6 extensively, for about a week before updating and for a few days after updating. I was shocked. Battery life was just as good. Yes, five major versions after the original and it was just as good. This is the first time I’ve ever seen that. The biggest issue when updating newer 64-bit devices is battery life, they’re destroyed by updates. But this iPhone was perfect.

Performance was not, but the difference isn’t drastic. As an example, the keyboard was fine, no lag. But I downloaded Apple Music’s library and it was quite laggy. Other small issues like that one were present throughout the experience, which weren’t there on iOS 14.6, but I have stringent standards for iOS updates and honestly it wasn’t too bad.

I wouldn’t update from iOS 13, but from iOS 17? I’m not sure there’s a difference. I think that in this case, updating would be fine.

But that’s just my experience.

 

[Andeddu]

Definitely update. I don’t really think there’s a performance hit between iOS 17 and 18.

iOS 26 will likely tank battery life and performance due to the new Liquid Glass UI.

 

[FeliApple]

Definitely update. I don’t really think there’s a performance hit between iOS 17 and 18.

iOS 26 will likely tank battery life and performance due to the new Liquid Glass UI.

Yeah, I didn’t mention this, but this is key I think:

For maximum possible compatibility, I think updating to iOS 18 from iOS 17 is a good choice, and avoid iOS 26 completely. It’ll destroy the iPhone 11.

I’d possibly update it now and pretend iOS 26 doesn’t exist. That’s one major reason I recommended my family to update an iPhone 11 on iOS 15 that was still compatible to iOS 18. Compatibility was fine for now, but I don’t think iOS 15 had much life left in terms of full compatibility. The plan was to update anyway when forced, so it made no sense to wait.

 

[eyoungren]

Definitely update. I don’t really think there’s a performance hit between iOS 17 and 18.

iOS 26 will likely tank battery life and performance due to the new Liquid Glass UI.

As someone who has the 11 Pro Max and is running the current iOS 26 Developer Beta, there is some truth in that. I did take a battery hit for a day or two after the very first beta. However, by day 3 everything was back to normal. I normally go to bed with about 80 percent left for the day (iOS 18 and earlier) and iOS 26 has been giving me that (once it evened out).

Of course, I always caveat things. I'm not an extensive user, like most people here. My phone is used for calls, texts, emails and some light web browsing on the off-chance I may actually leave the house.

Of course, I'm laughing at Liquid Glass though. I've used jailbroken iPhones in the past and that's something I've always had (no dock, transparent folder backgrounds, translucent icons, etc). Welcome to a decade or more ago Apple!

 

[Andeddu]

As someone who has the 11 Pro Max and is running the current iOS 26 Developer Beta, there is some truth in that. I did take a battery hit for a day or two after the very first beta. However, by day 3 everything was back to normal. I normally go to bed with about 80 percent left for the day (iOS 18 and earlier) and iOS 26 has been giving me that (once it evened out).

Of course, I always caveat things. I'm not an extensive user, like most people here. My phone is used for calls, texts, emails and some light web browsing on the off-chance I may actually leave the house.

Of course, I'm laughing at Liquid Glass though. I've used jailbroken iPhones in the past and that's something I've always had (no dock, transparent folder backgrounds, translucent icons, etc). Welcome to a decade or more ago Apple!

That’s great to hear. I’ll be upgrading my iPhone 13 to iOS 26 when it officially launches in September and will document any differences I notice.

I’m a heavy user, often on 4G/5G instead of Wi-Fi, which significantly drains the battery. My 13 has a brand-new OEM battery, so iOS 25 will be getting the best possible conditions for a fair comparison.