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iPhone 14 Pro Max What is the best iOS Update?
- Thread starter Steven SANH
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
RRC
macrumors 68020
You can’t choose, either stay with what the phone is on now or update to the latest one. Those are your only options.
Reverend Benny
macrumors 68000
Considering that the last update had about 70+ security fixes I'd recommend the latest version of the OS that is 26.6
winxmac
macrumors 68020
iOS 16.7.2 but since you are already on iOS 17.7 and there are at least two changes in iOS 18.x that you may not like, stay with iOS 17.7
- Control Center introduced in iOS 11 was dropped in favor of a new design in iOS 18
- Photos in iOS 18 has a new interface compared to Photos in iOS 17 and earlier
Hajj.david
macrumors 6502a
Macdctr
macrumors 68000
I'm on iOS27 Developer Beta 4 and have been very happy with this iOS. It is improved over iOS26 and I have this across several of my iPhones including my primary iPhone. I haven't had any issues running this iOS.
FeliApple
macrumors 603
I have to agree with this as well. Extremely stable even on the iPhone 11 (and definitely everything that follows that model).
I run iOS and iPadOS 18 as the original iOS version (iPhone 16 Plus and iPad 11th-gen (A16)) and it is a wonderful experience.
I wouldn’t be opposed to using an updated device (barring the Xs and Xʀ) on iOS 18. If the experience with the iPhone is good (it is, I tested that myself), then any iPhone until the 16 is at least equally good.
A subjective opinion, but I despise 26 and Liquid Glass, so 18 is the best of both worlds: stable on older devices and with a good design.
Andeddu
macrumors 68020
I separate iOS versions by design language so, for instance, iOS 1-6 would be considered “Gen 1”, iOS 7-18 are “Gen 2” and iOS 26-?? is “Gen 3”. I really loved iOS 7-18 (other than the extremely poorly optimised version that came out, possibly iOS 10 or 11).
I kinda agree with your take on iOS 16. I am using it on my secondary phone, an 8 (which I’ll retire in 2 weeks in favour of the 13) and I love everything about it. It’s probably the last iOS version with zero AI integration.
I read online that you can get rid of the annoying border around apps in iOS 26. Check it out and tell me if it fixes the issue...?
Go to Settings >
Accessibility >
Display & Text Size >
Turn off Show Borders, and toggle Reduce Transparency or Increase Contrast on and off.
Does it fix it? 🤔
FeliApple
macrumors 603
Yeah, I agree completely. I also divide them like that. iOS 10 was great! The one that was borked was iOS 11.
Yeah, I like the zero AI integration too! I think it would be great on a 14 PM. I’m using iOS 14 on my iPhone 8 though, I really like that phone. I do miss the home button sometimes, so I occasionally grab the iPhone 8 (or the 6s on iOS 10), and my 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
Do you see yourself using the iPhone 8 in some capacity even if your main secondary is the 13? Because I use my XĘ€ on iOS 12 as secondary but I still use my 8 sometimes.
Reverend Benny
macrumors 68000
I think the border looks pretty nice, it's not one of the things that annoy me with iOS26.
I wasn't a fan of the iOS 26 liquid glass design initially, but you do get used to it quick.
Was playing around with my parent's old Ipad pro 2 and I have to say that the "old" design does look cleaner. But again, liquid glass, especially then you can tone it down in later 26 releases looks good and you do get used to it.
The latest version 26.6 seem to be functioning well, there has been a few bugs reported (some reports of issues starting 3rd party apps, easy fix tho). I am currently messing around with it on my old iPhone 13 pro that now belongs to another family member. Solid experience and tbh it makes me wonder why I updated to my 16 pro sometimes.
Andeddu
macrumors 68020
I also miss the home button and bezel. Nothing’s worse than touching the screen and causing the video to rewind or skip forward.
Unfortunately, I think this will be the 8’s full retirement. Everything, including all apps, still works perfectly, so I’m reluctant to stop using it. However, the 13 is sitting around doing nothing with a fresh OEM battery installed. I feel guilty not using it. My 8 also had an OEM battery service in 2024 and, after two years of use, as a secondary device, it’s now at 83% battery health. I don’t think I’d be able to justify another battery service 9 years after release.
FeliApple
macrumors 603
Yeah, I don’t use the iPad with a home button and Apple’s original design language (9.7-inch iPad Pro, one of the best iPads ever released, imo) too much, but it’s a pleasure to use when I do.
With the iPhone 8, I went through a similar thought process: I was using the iPhone 8 on iOS 14 for music (it’s the only thing I use secondary iPhones for), and I had the iPhone Xʀ on iOS 12 inside a drawer. I love the home button like you, like we mentioned, but it felt a little like a waste to have that iPhone inside a drawer permanently, so I decided to replace the 8 with the Xʀ for music. Far better battery life, but a similar experience otherwise (the iPhone 8 works really well).
It’s more so that the Xʀ doesn’t waste away in a drawer.
I love the black iPhone 8! There’s something about black home button iPhones, right? Mine is Gold because a family member got it. When family upgrades they give older devices to me.
I do agree though: I think that the 13 will serve you better. You can always have nostalgia moments and go back to the 8 for a little while. The iPhone 13 will at least have a significantly better battery life and performance.
And it is pointless to replace the battery on the 8, imo, just like it is pointless for me to replace it on the iOS 13 6s I have. If you have a newer iPhone as secondary, I’d just leave it working as it can for whatever you can do with it and just use the iPhone 13.
Just my two cents, I use the iPhone 6s on iOS 10 for music sometimes with the original battery (10 years old) and it works perfectly fine. My iPhone 8 dropped to 75% yesterday (after I started using it early last year with 76%, who knows when it dropped to that). It’s fine.
In any case, I hope you can give your older iPhones a long life. And funny that this thread asked what’s the best version for the 14PM. My entire iOS approach is designed for maximum longevity in detriment of short-term compatibility with secondary devices.
It’s a deliberate, informed choice with the explicit goal of maximum longevity and with performance and battery life maximization with no added costs.
Andeddu
macrumors 68020
Wish I had a larger iPad than the Mini. I still use my Mini 4 (2015) because the screen pushes a Retina resolution, and it still runs all streaming videos as smoothly as any other modern device. Shame its days are numbered with iOS 15 soon to become completely obsolete with modern app compatibility.
The 8 is a lovely machine, but the 13 is undoubtedly better in every way. The OLED display looks so much more vibrant, and the difference in speaker volume is massive. You’re right about the battery life also. I reckon the 13 (on iOS 26) with a 100% BH OEM battery should last twice as long as an 8 on iOS 16 also with perfect BH. I spend most of my time watching videos on my iPhones (because I like popping them on a stand and doing chores with something on) and have watched 90 TV shows in their entirety on my 8 in the last two years; no wonder I’ve run the BH down to 83%!
I always get nostalgic for these old devices. I actually feel like digging out the OGSE because I haven’t used it in around a year.
I also like listening to music on my older devices since my Apple Music playlists are synced across the board. At least that’ll be supported for the foreseeable future since it’s integrated into iOS.
I7guy
macrumors Westmere
iOS 26 hands down for modern iPhones. Additionally, staying on iOS 18 means the latest version is 18.7.8. iOS 26 has many nice new features, imo.
Andeddu
macrumors 68020
Depends how modern. For a 13/14 I would say iOS 18 is the best. I am by no means saying stay on iOS 18, I always update every single year regardless due to app compatibility. I’ll run a phone to its iOS limit, always have and always will.
App compatibility is more important to me than battery life and performance.
Macdctr
macrumors 68000
Personally . . . for me it is iOS 27 that has been the best iOS so far. My older iPhones such as my 13 minis, my 13, my 13 Pro the new iOS have become much more responsive running under Developer Beta 4 as compared to iOS 26. Also my 15 Pro iPhones have iOS 27 Apple Intelligence support with some added improvements from iOS 27 compared to the older iOS.
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I7guy
macrumors Westmere
My 14PM is in iOS 26.6. Runs like a champ. Also my iPad Pro M1 is on iOS 26 and also runs like a champ.
Andeddu
macrumors 68020
Fair enough. My 13 runs iOS 26 quite well but there is a slight performance drop from iOS 18. It’s just a secondary phone for me so I don’t really care.
Sounds like iOS 27 will resolve that.
Homme
macrumors 65816
and it sucked so bad. Worst thing about iOS 18 ( second worst was A10X iPads not getting it too).
iOS 15-18 are even more seperate from iOS 12 and below because all devices from the 13-15 era got the same update and Apple has mashed unsupported devices from the 15-18 era together when it comes to software updates and support. Yes there are some OS 26 devices not getting OS 27 but they are separate from the other OS’s IMO not because of the new redesign but also because tvOS 27 dropped the first tvOS Device in history so it kinda makes sense to put that there lol
iOS 17 was the last os to have no AI
The 8 was great at the time, but its main problem was the A11 chip which Apple neglected so badly that even the 7th gen iPads A10 ran iPadOS 18.
its days may be outnumbered but it got 3 security updates this year so far which is one more than 2024/25 for iPadOS 15 ( particularly the last patch)
It will still take a while before app support is dropped for the major ones for OS 15 especially Facebook and WhatsApp since WhatsApp was released last year for iPadOS 15.
winxmac
macrumors 68020
Apple should not have upgraded iPad 6 (A10) with 2GB RAM and iPad 7 (A10) with 3GB RAM beyond iPadOS 16 instead of leaving them on iPadOS 17 and iPadOS 18.
I have my iPad 9 on iPadOS 18 and I'm not going to allow it to go beyond that, same with my iPhone 11 Pro Max on iOS 18.
I have my iPad 9 on iPadOS 18 and I'm not going to allow it to go beyond that, same with my iPhone 11 Pro Max on iOS 18.