[Updated] iOS 26.3 on A15 devices

[Populus]

After seeing the good results of iAppleBytes test of iOS 26.2 on the iPhone 13, I’ve felt encouraged enough to install it on my iPhone SE 2022 and see how it performs. For science.

I decided to open this thread for all the owners of an A15 device: iPhone 13, 13 Pro/Max, iPhone 14, iPhone SE 2022.

Please share with us how does the system behave on your device, and whether you made a clean install, or you just updated via OTA.

 

[Populus]

Hello from the other side…

Hi there! I’m using iOS 26.2 on my iPhone SE3, I just installed it a couple of hours ago, and it’s running great!!!

The iPhone SE 2022 has the same A15 chip from the iPhone 13, with 4GB of RAM.

Battery wise, so far, so good! I’ve been using it for two hours and battery is currently at 77%.

There are some things from Liquid Glass I still don’t quite like. Also the keyboard is a bit too small. And when I switch back to iOS 18 devices, honestly, it looks more modern…

But performance wise, it’s okay (maybe it’s still too soon to tell) and it’s not draining the battery, on the contrary.

I guess we’ll have to get used to Liquid Glass… 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[Populus]

Update:

Even tho I’m still at 38%, doing a bit of math, the estimations give me a battery life of roughly 8h… similar, if not better, to iOS 18.

The performance is quite good, the battery life is very good. But Liquid Glass looks a bit anachronistic… and takes so much space from my 4,7” display… why the UI elements are now bigger?

Anyways, this is what we have now, and it’s not likely Apple will go back to flat design anytime soon so… I guess we’ll have to settle with this new design.

Given how many elements seem to have been taken straight from OSX Aqua, I’m pretty sure Steve Jobs would love this design.

 

[Populus]

Quick update almost a month later: all my A15 devices run great on iOS 26.2 (final build 23C55) and, now I can finally say, with better battery life than on 18.7. Also on 18.7 the device would heat up from time to time, while on 26.2 it remains cold all the time.

I really recommend to upgrade to 26.2 on your A15 devices (iPhone 13, 13 mini, 14 and SE 3).

Next, it will be the time to finally upgrade my beloved M2 iPad Pro, which shares the same core architecture as the A15 SoC. I don’t know if I’ll enjoy the new iPadOS windowed experience but… I think this is the best moment to upgrade and stay there until Apple releases the rock solid, Snow Leopard style iOS/iPadOS 27.

Although, who knows, if 26.3 runs equally well and it’s the minimum version required for the Creators Studio bundle, maybe I’ll update one of my devices to see how it goes.

But for now, 26.2 is running fantastic.

I suspect the great performance and efficiency on this devices, or at least the SE 3, is that some GPU taxing animations such as the reflections on the edge of the Home Screen icons and widgets are disabled. I mean, the reflections are there but they are static, always in the same position (top left and bottom right corners) and don’t change with the phone movement. I’m guessing Liquid Glass is also somehow toned down to not tax the GPU in excess… I don’t know if this was this way on earlier versions of iOS 26, but on 26.2 this elements are static, so I guess that helps.

 

[Big_D]

My wife has a 13 and my daughter got my old 13 Pro, when her X died. Both are experiencing no problems. It runs well on my 16 Pro and work 14 as well.

 

[bergert]

It runs ok on my SE, but there is a noticeable lag as if there is not enough RAM on Windows PC. Plus there are myriad of small annoyances like the contacts search text moved from top to bottom and reduced in size. Im holding my phone from the bottom normally, how on earth can I type and hold it at the same time. Or are we supposed to put it on a flat surface to use contacts? Must use both hands now. And the icons are butt ugly. This all, because Apple couldn’t be bothered to continue release security updates for SE on iOS18. Yet my iPad is on 16.7.12; with no updates for the past year. Can’t be bothered to fix exploited issues for 2017 iPad. Imho os16 looks way better, and runs smoother (more responsive) than 26 on SE.

 

[speedyraf]

I put iOS 26.2 on my iPhone SE 2022 this evening because Apple decided not to issue further security updates for it under iOS 18. Thus far, an app I downloaded previously from the App Store (required for the equipment) "wasn't found" so had to reinstall it. I couldn't get the offload/reinstall function for apps (to save space) to work so my storage total continues to rise and an iPhone reset hasn't helped. The reformatted Contacts and Photos apps don't thrill me. On the positive side, one or two apps seem to be working better.

 

[Reverend Benny]

It runs ok on my SE, but there is a noticeable lag as if there is not enough RAM on Windows PC. Plus there are myriad of small annoyances like the contacts search text moved from top to bottom and reduced in size. Im holding my phone from the bottom normally, how on earth can I type and hold it at the same time. Or are we supposed to put it on a flat surface to use contacts? Must use both hands now. And the icons are butt ugly. This all, because Apple couldn’t be bothered to continue release security updates for SE on iOS18. Yet my iPad is on 16.7.12; with no updates for the past year. Can’t be bothered to fix exploited issues for 2017 iPad. Imho os16 looks way better, and runs smoother (more responsive) than 26 on SE.

is it the SE2020 or 2022?

 

[P_Watt]

After seeing the good results of iAppleBytes test of iOS 26.2 on the iPhone 13, I’ve felt encouraged enough to install it on my iPhone SE 2022 and see how it performs. For science.

I decided to open this thread for all the owners of an A15 device: iPhone 13, 13 Pro/Max, iPhone 14, iPhone SE 2022.

Please share with us how does the system behave on your device, and whether you made a clean install, or you just updated via OTA.

I've run 26 since June on SE2022 with no performance issues, just a few beta bugs and none since september. Battery life is as on 18.

 

[Populus]

I've run 26 since June on SE2022 with no performance issues, just a few beta bugs and none since september. Battery life is as on 18.

Yeah, for me at least iOS 26.2 is running great!

 

[speedyraf]

The offload/reinstall on my iPhone SE 2022 (iOS 26.2.1) doesn't work now after the update. I've rebooted, reset network settings, checked that my apps were listed as purchased in the Apple Store, and signed out and back in the Apple Store. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I had bad results with iOS 26 when it was first released and went back to iOS18. I recently installed it on my iPhone 13 and it seems to run fine.

 

[Homme]

is it the SE2020 or 2022?

More the SE 2020, its battery life and capacity wasn’t great when it came out with iOS 13 and certainly worse for OS 26

 

[FeliApple]

More the SE 2020, its battery life and capacity wasn’t great when it came out with iOS 13 and certainly worse for OS 26

With both SE I think. As soon as I saw that their battery life was basically the 4.7-inch standard (7-8 hours of light, efficient Wi-Fi SOT, 6 hours of light, efficient cellular, inefficient or less efficient usage is below that), I thought “longevity with iOS updates won’t be good”.

iOS 26 is basically the nail in the coffin, IMO.

 

[Populus]

iOS 26 is basically the nail in the coffin, IMO.

For the SE 2020, it may be. For the SE 2022, at least in my experience, it isn’t. I personally don’t consider 8h of SOT a bad mark, as this model has always moved in that range. And the performance is excellent, no lags, no slowdowns…

Yeah, I don’t run social media apps such as Facebook or Instagram, but I do run apps such as Obsidian, Tasks, Things, Music streaming apps, RSS-feeds, taking photos, listening to podcasts, mail apps, cloud storage… and lots of Safari. I mean, what else is a smartphone aimed to do?

 

[Populus]

iOS 26.3 on the SE 2022 (SE3)

NOW is the time, @prk60091 , let your wife know. iOS 26.3 carries important security fixes and, at least in the case of the iPhone 13, which has the same A15 SoC as our iPhone SE 3, battery life seems very good, just a bit below the maximum it hit on 26.2

In my opinion, it’s well worth the update. You get the latest security patches (a lot this time) and maybe a few bug fixes we don’t know of, plus some new features -especially on the EU- and still great battery life, according to iAppleByte’s GeekBench battery test. Obviously, battery hungry apps such as Instagram will always eat battery at a quicker rate, but that’s up to the user.

I always recommend performing a clean install, restoring the device using a computer (through Finder on a Mac, or using the Apple Devices app from the Microsoft Store on a PC), as the results will probably be much better. That’s, at least, my experience compared to OTA updates…
Here is the general graph with all the devices he tested iOS 26.3 on:

It seems like iOS 26.3 impacts battery life especially on the iPhone 16 (yellow graph), but given the insane amount of hours of Screen-On time it has, more than 12h on average, honestly I wouldn’t worry too much. And the security patches and alleged bug fixes are worth it, in my opinion.

As for myself, first I’ll update and use my test drive unit (a midnight 64GB one), then, if it behaves well during one week or two, I’ll restore my main product(RED) 256GB iPhone SE 3. This results may differ for us in the EU region, due to some new features included in 26.3 that are exclusive for us, which might impact battery life differently. We’ll see…

All I can say up to this point, is that after two months on iOS 26.2, it has given my iPhone SE 3 the best battery life in a long time, and better performance (with less bugs) than iOS 18 overall. Let’s cross our fingers and hope iOS 26.3 turns out equally good for our aging A15 devices…

I’ll keep you updated.

 

[FeliApple]

View attachment 2604726

It seems like iOS 26.3 impacts battery life especially on the iPhone 16 (yellow graph), but given the insane amount of hours of Screen-On time it has, more than 12h on average, honestly I wouldn’t worry too much. And the security patches and alleged bug fixes are worth it, in my opinion.

Look at that ridiculous drop of the beloved iPhone 16! 16.5% after the first major version at least, possibly more, is utterly appalling.

People had stated that the iPhone 16 had been particularly affected and this confirms it.

I’m running iOS 18.3.1 on my 16 Plus and battery life is positively insane.

I updated two iPhone 11 from iOS 14 and 15 to iOS 18 and battery life remained like-new.

I think iOS 26 would destroy them. Sadly it’s an irreversible drop.

 

[Artemiz]

I updated two iPhone 11 from iOS 14 and 15 to iOS 18 and battery life remained like-new.

So your theory is incorrect that each iOS update utterly destroys battery and is designed for that purpose then?

 

[FeliApple]

So your theory is incorrect that each iOS update utterly destroys battery and is designed for that purpose then?

I have never said that. I have said that major iOS updates will eventually and without fail significantly impact battery life and performance, even if performances isn’t as affected as before.

I have never said that every major update is garbage for every iPhone. I have said that every major update is a risk. To give some examples: iOS 15 on the iPhone Xʀ is probably fine; iOS 10 on the 6s is fine; iOS 15 on the iPhone 12 is also fine; iOS 9 (and probably 10) are both fine on the iPhone 6, etc.

The iPhone 11’s bonanza ended with iOS 26. It always happens. The 6s? Great on iOS 10, it never recovered from iOS 11 and iOS 13 destroyed it. iOS 15 killed whatever was left of its battery life.

I have always stated that so far, everything will eventually be massively affected in terms of battery life if it is a 64-bit device. So far, this has been true. The iPhone 5s through the iPhone 16 have all, sooner or later, suffered. The iPhone 7 and the 16 didn’t need much (iOS 11 and 26 were the worst releases ever), while others needed more (the iPhone Xʀ and the 11 received several good major updates).

Of course, with the increase in size of the batteries and better processors, the final impact is also lower. The 6s is pathetically poor on iOS 13 through 15; the Xʀ has been significantly affected, but it is probably usable on iOS 18 in terms of battery life, unlike the 6s.

Because if the standard is “I need 5-6 hours of light-moderate SOT regardless of original battery life” then the problem is obvious:

You have a LOT more headroom with the iPhone Xʀ (original maximum light SOT on iOS 12: 16 hours) than with the regular 6s (original maximum light SOT on iOS 9-10: 8 hours).

This does not mean that updates are good even if battery life isn’t as poor (I get 3-4 hours on my 6s on iOS 13. No chance of an iPhone Xʀ being that awful on iOS 18).

Even the iPhone 13’s graph above shows a significant difference AND it is adjusting expectations with battery health, which is nonsensical (original iOS versions are unaffected by battery health even if drops below 80%. Controversial statement, I know, but it is the case). Remember: I don’t update anything, I don’t replace batteries, and I use devices for years on end.

Make it raw data without adjusting and the difference would be massive (under 4000 for the 13 vs 6000 for iOS 15, and about half (!!!) if taking some of the worst iOS 26 versions).

 

[Artemiz]

I have never said that. I have said that major iOS updates will eventually and without fail significantly impact battery life and performance, even if performances isn’t as affected as before.

I have never said that every major update is garbage for every iPhone. I have said that every major update is a risk. To give some examples: iOS 15 on the iPhone Xʀ is probably fine; iOS 10 on the 6s is fine; iOS 15 on the iPhone 12 is also fine; iOS 9 (and probably 10) are both fine on the iPhone 6, etc.

The iPhone 11’s bonanza ended with iOS 26. It always happens. The 6s? Great on iOS 10, it never recovered from iOS 11 and iOS 13 destroyed it. iOS 15 killed whatever was left of its battery life.

I have always stated that so far, everything will eventually be massively affected in terms of battery life if it is a 64-bit device. So far, this has been true. The iPhone 5s through the iPhone 16 have all, sooner or later, suffered. The iPhone 7 and the 16 didn’t need much (iOS 11 and 26 were the worst releases ever), while others needed more (the iPhone Xʀ and the 11 received several good major updates).

Of course, with the increase in size of the batteries and better processors, the final impact is also lower. The 6s is pathetically poor on iOS 13 through 15; the Xʀ has been significantly affected, but it is probably usable on iOS 18 in terms of battery life, unlike the 6s.

Because if the standard is “I need 5-6 hours of light-moderate SOT regardless of original battery life” then the problem is obvious:

You have a LOT more headroom with the iPhone Xʀ (original maximum light SOT on iOS 12: 16 hours) than with the regular 6s (original maximum light SOT on iOS 9-10: 8 hours).

This does not mean that updates are good even if battery life isn’t as poor (I get 3-4 hours on my 6s on iOS 13. No chance of an iPhone Xʀ being that awful on iOS 18).

Even the iPhone 13’s graph above shows a significant difference AND it is adjusting expectations with battery health, which is nonsensical (original iOS versions are unaffected by battery health even if drops below 80%. Controversial statement, I know, but it is the case). Remember: I don’t update anything, I don’t replace batteries, and I use devices for years on end.

Make it raw data without adjusting and the difference would be massive (under 4000 for the 13 vs 6000 for iOS 15, and about half (!!!) if taking some of the worst iOS 26 versions).

I don’t have the attention span to read through all that, but you’ve repeatedly claimed the best possible battery performance is only achievable on the original version the device came with, and that every subsequent version is “malware” that’s designed to bring down battery life (paraphrasing, of course).

You’ve gone so far as to claim that even battery health doesn’t matter, and as long as you’re on the original version, you can still achieve the advertised battery life, which is theoretically impossible.

And that is why I was surprised to hear you say “like-new” after jumping 4 iOS versions.

 

[dono42]

Day 2 of 26.3 on a iPhone 13 mini from 18.7.2. OTA only? Finder did not have upgrade option? Macos Sonoma 14.8.4. So far Meh. No noticeable change in battery. In line with all of the complaints with the POS Liquid glass.