Slow performance and lag after iOS 26 update on iPhone

After updating my device to iOS 26, I have been experiencing significant lag across apps and system settings. The performance has dropped noticeably, making the device feel slow and unresponsive. This is affecting the overall user experience, and I would appreciate guidance on whether this is a known issue or if there are recommended steps to resolve it


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: After updating to iOS 26, my phone has started lagging significantly across all apps and settings. The overall performance feels noticeably slower—almost like using an Android device


iPhone 11 Pro Max, iOS 26

Posted on Sep 17, 2025 6:11 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 24, 2025 3:52 AM

Had the same issues as OP, waited 3-5 days for the indexing to finish and still have some lags, but what worked was, I went on Setting - Accessibility - Display & Text Size - Reduce Transparency,

Turning it off, quiting setting, and then turning it on again, seems to make the phone run better. Everything is snappy again. Maybe it’ll work for you too.


I’m on iphone 13 128gb with 24gb of storage left.



305 replies

Dec 16, 2025 8:43 AM in response to Giacomo_Saccone

Giacomo_Saccone wrote:

Is it possible to downgrade?

Asked and answered.

I will never update before checking positive feedbacks.

While it's certainly a good plan to wait a bit before updating, comments on technical support forums will almost always skew negative, as they are places for people to come with problems. The larger group, the people without problems, aren't posting anything.

Dec 16, 2025 9:12 AM in response to haadee

I also am not happy with this new IOS. Just opening mail or messages causes serious lags in loading content or simply not loading at all and having to close and reopen the app. It also seems and has been in previous IOSs, to be less intuitive requiring more steps to complete the same tasks. Then the layout of controls on safari and other apple apps is difficult to navigate with way too many hidden actions. Finally, the liquid glass should have never made it thru beta testing and obscures the clean look apple products typically have. This is by far my least favorite update. Please fix it.

Dec 18, 2025 4:56 AM in response to William Donelson

I don't know why Apple acknowledges this should have been done better. Exactly in the same boat. It's not an 'momentum' after an initial update. It's a very very bad update and it should be fixed.

Also Apple should make it possible to revert back to the previous OS.

The keyboard-lag or random skipping is a disaster and should be done first.

The general lag - i'm sure they can fix it. I rater have LESS functionality and a functioning phone than this terrible update.

Dec 29, 2025 6:59 AM in response to haadee

The iOS 16 update has completely disrupted all of my devices. My calendar is filled with nonsense events,birthdays and appointments showing in 1601, averaging 10–25 fake entries per day, making it unusable. All my contacts were wiped out, and the Photos app is completely messed up with wrong dates, fake albums, and massive battery drain. Has anyone been able to successfully transfer their calendar, and how? Does anyone have solutions for any of these issues?

Jan 28, 2026 6:12 AM in response to haadee

By now I'm really annoyed that Apple didn't fix the lag on my iPhone 13 mini. It worked perfect on iOS 18.

I changed transparency, uninstalled AdGuard Pro because it used VPN, tried other stuff but... to be honest:

This is really a very very bad update.


Apple should sign 18.x.x again to make it possible to revert to the previous version of iOS.


For the first time in two decades I'm really considering leaving the Apple ecosystem, the current situation in the US makes Apple (services) a liability too. I don't now the English equivalent but the Dutch saying is "Reputation comes by foot but leaves by horse."


I typed this on my iMac but t y pin g this on my iPh one would mean it ads random spa ces the fact that Apple did not fix that in .1 update really deminishes the overall usability of the iPhone.

Jan 28, 2026 6:29 AM in response to AdB1973

Hi, iOS 26 and Liquid Glass are simply the design Apple has chosen to go with, for now. The iPhone User Interface has had several major redesigns in its near 20 year history. The last major redesign was iOS 7, back in 2014. We all somehow managed to get through them all. 


You may want to review the information in the article I linked to below. It explains the adjustments you can make to mitigate the effects of Liquid Glass that you’re experiencing. 


Liquid Glass - Love It Or Hate It - It's … - Apple Community


Apple’s installed user base is over 1.5 billion users. Making a single user interface perfectly compatible for every user is literally impossible. Apple will make changes (or not make changes) based partially on the feedback they receive through their official channel, linked below and good luck.


Product Feedback - Apple

Slow performance and lag after iOS 26 update on iPhone

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