Apple’s new iOS 26 update is finally rolling out to the masses after a months-long beta. Paired with the launch of the iPhone 17 lineup, you’d expect fireworks. But so far, the reception to Apple’s so-called “biggest iOS update in years” has been… meh. To be fair, that’s par for the course with iOS updates. Apple can never please everyone. But if you’re staring at that update notification wondering whether to pull the trigger, here’s what you should know.
What Mashable is saying
As the proud owner of a battered iPhone 13 Pro, I went ahead and upgraded. My biggest gripe has been the battery life. It feels shorter than usual — though, to be fair, that might just be the “new iOS tax” while my phone re-indexes and chews through storage. I’m hoping a few days (and maybe a little spring cleaning) will fix that. Beyond that, iOS 26 feels… fine. Nothing groundbreaking, just some quality-of-life tweaks dressed up as revolution. Apple’s obsession with rearranging the furniture and calling it progress is, as always, a little maddening.
I’m not alone, either. Tim Marcin, our associate digital culture editor, loves the new charging feature that tells you how long it’ll take to hit 80% — and he swears his phone charges more efficiently now. But he also finds the Safari redesign clunky and irritating.
Meanwhile, Tech Reporter Alex Perry summed up his feelings bluntly: to him, iOS 26 is basically Apple “just changing some colors.”
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What the internet is saying
Over on Reddit, opinions on iOS 26 are mixed but leaning positive. Scroll through threads in the iPhone and iOS subreddits and you’ll find the full spectrum: some users swear the update feels half-baked and laggy, while others report everything running smoothly and say they’re loving it. As always, it kind of depends on who you ask — and whether they’ve been living with the beta for weeks already.
“I’m honestly disappointed with nearly every design decision they made. It seems Apple prioritized flashy mimicry over actual functionality, which feels like the least Apple-like direction I’ve ever seen,” one user said. Another on the same thread stated that “My screen time has been cut in half with the same amount of drainage.”
In other threads, plenty of users were less than impressed. Some complained the update “feels almost exactly the same,” while others roasted the redesign, saying the “visual style was designed and approved by a bunch of people who don’t use dark mode.”
Still, it’s not all grumbling. A chunk of users say they’re genuinely enjoying iOS 26. And honestly, that tracks: with any big iOS overhaul, a lot of the frustration just comes down to retraining your muscle memory. Give it time, and what feels jarring today usually becomes second nature tomorrow.