iPhone XR 18.7.4 Update - "Unable to Verify" (is this temporary, or update pulled?)

Question

Level 1

13 points

iPhone XR 18.7.4 Update - "Unable to Verify" (is this temporary, or update pulled?)

iPhone XR 18.7.4 Update - "Unable to Verify"

Today my iPhone XR notified me of an update to 18.7.4 that was available. I went to Settings -> Update, entered the iPhone sign-in, the update downloaded and normal, and was prepared, but then at the verification step, a dialog popped up saying "Unable to Verify" the update, giving options "Retry?" or "Remind me later?"

I attempted "Retry", which failed for the same unable to verify error.

Researching, the 18.7.4 update address the Australia concerns over it's 000 calls no longer connecting on older iPhones, Additionally, the articles mentions that Apple sometimes pulls updates by pulling the key to verify on certain models for whatever issue needs to be addressed.

My question here is for 18.7.4 and the iPhone XR, "Is this a temporary situation that Apple will resolve" so that the update will install at some future time, or, has this update been pulled permanently for the XR models?

If it has been pulled permanently for the XR, how do I get rid of the 381 MB of update that is now sitting on the phone unable to be verified?

Please provide guidance on the issue.

iPhone XR, iOS 18

Posted on Jan 28, 2026 11:05 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

63,182 points

Jan 28, 2026 11:19 AM in response to drankinatty

It has been pulled. You can remove the downloaded update on your phone by going to Settings > General > iPhone Storage, and you will see the update there that can be deleted if it has already been downloaded.

Everything is still being investigated, currently there is no additional information available. It will still appear as an available download, but the first priority was to prevent it from being installed. You should expect that there is nothing you need to do at this point until they resolve the problem with the update, or possibly a Carrier Update from the Telstra cell provider where the issue was discovered. We just don't know at this point.

Reply

Answer 2

Jeff Donald

Level 8

45,414 points

Jan 28, 2026 7:58 PM in response to drankinatty

Try the install again, it should be working now.

Reply

Answer 3

drankinatty Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 29, 2026 5:50 AM in response to Jeff Donald

Confirmed - update now succeeds as normal for 18.7.4 on the XR in the US with all verifications completed successfully. Thank you for the update.

Reply

Answer 4

drankinatty Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 28, 2026 3:52 PM in response to Mac Jim ID

Thank you for your answer. That is exactly the information I needed. Hopefully it all gets sorted out and the update released for those who need it. I'm not in AU, so I can't provide any firsthand information of the issue there, but what caught my eye was a certificate issue causing iMessage, et. al. to stop working in Jan 2027 for the affected iPhones. That would be bad. I'll remove the current update from iPhone Storage and we will go from there.

Reply

Answer 5

Jeff Donald

Level 8

45,414 points

Jan 29, 2026 5:53 AM in response to drankinatty

You’re welcome and I hope you have a great day!

Reply