Should I update to 26 before migrating to iPhone 17?

Hello. Before I do the phone to phone migration from my iPhone 14 Pro to the 17 pro I’ll have this week, should I update my 14 pro to the new iOS 26?

iPhone 14 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Sep 15, 2025 4:51 AM

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Posted on Sep 15, 2025 8:39 AM

zowenso wrote:

I’m sorry lol. I meant more like is it necessary to do so. I’ll do it but didn’t know if the iPhone 17 already had it and it didn’t matter.

Is it necessary? No. iPhone 17 will come preloaded with iOS 26. Do I do it even though I'll have a new phone in 5 days? Yes. It gives me a few days to get used to the new iOS and make any customizations I may want to meet my needs.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 15, 2025 8:39 AM in response to zowenso

zowenso wrote:

I’m sorry lol. I meant more like is it necessary to do so. I’ll do it but didn’t know if the iPhone 17 already had it and it didn’t matter.

Is it necessary? No. iPhone 17 will come preloaded with iOS 26. Do I do it even though I'll have a new phone in 5 days? Yes. It gives me a few days to get used to the new iOS and make any customizations I may want to meet my needs.

Sep 16, 2025 12:10 AM in response to lobsterghost1

lobsterghost1 wrote:

LD150 wrote:

I would go further and say NO absolutely not, because your 14 may get a newer version than the new 17, and you will have fun and games updating the 17 first then going back to restoring and setting up for the second time.

There was a time I might have agreed with you. But Apple fixed this in the QuickStart system to the point if an update is required for the new phone, it alerts you to download the update, then complete the transfer of data process.

Much appreciated, it has been a while. Does it apply to restore from backup too?


I will strike it off the list of things Apple needs to fix 😊

Sep 15, 2025 9:48 AM in response to LD150

LD150 wrote:

I would go further and say NO absolutely not, because your 14 may get a newer version than the new 17, and you will have fun and games updating the 17 first then going back to restoring and setting up for the second time.

There's nothing very difficult about updating a brand-new phone. I think the likelihood of the version being released today being newer than the one already on shipping iPhones is very small.


I will be updating my iPhone 15 Pro as soon as the update drops even though I'm picking up ony iPhone 17 Pro on Friday.

Sep 15, 2025 10:15 AM in response to LD150

LD150 wrote:

I would go further and say NO absolutely not, because your 14 may get a newer version than the new 17, and you will have fun and games updating the 17 first then going back to restoring and setting up for the second time.

There was a time I might have agreed with you. But Apple fixed this in the QuickStart system to the point if an update is required for the new phone, it alerts you to download the update, then complete the transfer of data process.


I'm getting two new phones Friday and will download iOS 26 when it drops today and I won't need to worry if Apple sends out a higher version before I get my new phones. But it looks like we'll need to update to iOS 18.7 before we can go to iOS 26, which I'm downloading now.

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Should I update to 26 before migrating to iPhone 17?

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