iPhone 12 not offered iOS 18.7.3 update, only iOS 26.2

Jopower1 wrote:

So why not jump to 26?

A: can’t go back.

True

B: reports of this version being so different it’s like going to Linux (not a bad thing but not what I want on a phone).

It's visually different, though nothing like Linux in my opinion. I'm sure there are videos out there showing what it looks like, so you can get a better idea. Under the hood, it's not all that different.

C: you loose all or many settings you spent HOURS getting right.

This is always a possibility when you do a major upgrade, but it's rare. What is likely to happen is that new features will be enabled by default. This makes some people unhappy. But it's usually only a handful.

D: many apps not working nearly as well as they did before (after you spent hours fine tuning them).

I don't know what iPhone apps could possibly require hours of fine-tuning, but I guess they must be out there. I have about 300 apps on my iPhone. The only one that hasn't been working properly is the one for my alarm system. However, that stopped working as a result of a change in the app itself about a month after I updated to iOS 26.

Reasons to update:

1. Security

Seriously, yes, it's always possible that things will go badly wrong. And I might be hit by a trolley walking home from work tonight. It's important to remember that people don't come to tech support forums to talk about how wonderful the new system is. They come here when they are having a problem. So, you get a skewed view of things.

I do recommend that the change-averse wait a while before updating. But, eventually, you'll probably have to.

Best of luck.

If your iPhone does not show the Beta Updates option, here is how to turn it on so you can update your device to iOS 18.7.3

You can install iOS 18.7.3 as follows:

For those on iOS 16.4 to iOS 18.7.2

1. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Beta enrollment—Visit Apple Beta, sign up with your Apple account, and accept terms
2. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Go to Settings > General > Software Update > Wait for iPhone to finish loading/checking for updates > Tap Beta Updates > iOS 18 Public Beta
3. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download and install iOS 18.7.3
4. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠After update installation, turn off Beta Updates

It's intentional. Apple stopped signing 18 for models capable of 26, so it's no longer possible to update yours to that.

(262226)

I guess that makes sense…

My iPad Mini 6 (A2568) got the 18.7.3 update, it was released in 2021.

my iPhone 15 Pro Max (A2849) only sees the 26.2 update, it was released in 2023.

Read through the post, your question has already been answered, no need to repeat it

I did. I want to add that for some devices (iPad) supporting ios 26, ios 18.7.3 is indeed available.

Thanks Your Borgness!! Finally an actual answer/fix/work-around.