iOS 26.7 or ios 27 , & why the update size for 26.7 so big??

Choose which ever one you wish. If you want to take advantage of the new features in iOS 27, then that would be the one you choose. It is not necessary to first update to iOS 26.7 before updating to iOS 27.

The reason why iOS 27 is bigger is that it is a major release with many more features. Point updates to previous versions are typically smaller than what you will find on the yearly releases to a new OS that comes around every year about this time.

No matter which one you choose, if you want to return back to manually updating iOS, you will want to go back to that page in Settings to turn Automatic Updates off. These versions will default to Automatic Updates and that is disclosed on the page after the update that says "Software Update Complete". Some user have simply hit Continue without reading about the change and then wonder why their software updated to the next version automatically.

Nickbo851 wrote:

I just cleared some space on my phone in order to update to iOS 26.7 and it says it will take 11.48 GB's. In the earlier conversation, someone said it would take 8GB. What changed? I am currently on iOS 26.5. Since I have Automatic Updates turned off, maybe I missed iOS 26.6???

t takes more storage to update then what the installed version will use because first the update file needs to be downloaded to your iPhone, then it is unpacked. After the install, the downloaded file is deleted.

You can use a computer to perform the update and in that case the file is downloaded to the computer and your phone is updated from that file, so not as much storage space is needed on your iPhone to perform the update.

Hi, you're incorrect to assume that iOS 26.7 contained only security updates. The iOS 26.7 update notes highlight bug fixes and new feature and updates for Accessibility, Music, AirPods Max 2, new emoji, Freeform, Reminders, Purchase sharing, improvements to keyboard accuracy and also security updates. It's always more than meets the eye. Heres's a link to one article on the matter.

About the security content of iOS 26.7 and iPadOS 26.7 - Apple Support

I just cleared some space on my phone in order to update to iOS 26.7 and it says it will take 11.48 GB's. In the earlier conversation, someone said it would take 8GB. What changed? I am currently on iOS 26.5. Since I have Automatic Updates turned off, maybe I missed iOS 26.6???