Should iPhone SE be updated to 26.2?

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Level 1

8 points

Should iPhone SE be updated to 26.2?

My husband has an Apple SE (he is a low volume user) mostly texts and phone. He is running 18.7.2, currently has automatic updates turned off but he is getting pushes every day to install 26.2. i have it on my iPhone 17PM, but I’ve heard this leap in update can be detrimental to the SE. Is it safe to update? Besides features, will it affect the performance of his phone since he does not have the modern processing capability of the newer phones. Thank you. What are the pros and cons.

iPhone SE (2nd generation)

Posted on Jan 23, 2026 2:45 PM

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Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 10

80,234 points

Jan 23, 2026 5:02 PM in response to MDW302

Welcome!

We have two Gen 2 SEs (SE 2020) with 64GB storage. Both are upgraded to 26.2 and are fine. No difference in performance or battery runtime. The big change with 26 is visual with the introduction of the controversial "Liquid Glass" effect. That change is the most common complaint I see here.

Might want to look at this user-submitted tip:

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

Also, iPhone SEs have never been able to run some advanced iOS features that more potent iPhones can, and have smaller capacity batteries. That has not changed with iOS 26.

I'm still happy with my four-year old SE running 26. It does everything I need from a phone.

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Answer 2

Jan 23, 2026 5:13 PM in response to MDW302

Check the Battery Health on the phone at Settings > Battery > Battery Health. If it is under 80%, you should be looking to replace the battery. The update will not cause a decline in your Battery Health, but an already poor battery condition may be problematic when increased demand is needed to perform the update and the indexing of files required immediately after the update. Some users have blamed the update on their poor battery performance without realizing that they should have already had the battery replaced.

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