Well, this is unusual. Apple has released its latest iPhone update and it’s for a small portion of the installed user base: any iPhone with 17 in its number and the iPhone Air. Read on for full details of this strange update.
This post has the initial thoughts on the new release and I’ll be updating this post over the coming week and I’ll add final thoughts on Tuesday, June 9.
Who Is It For And How Do You Get It?
Unlike other iOS 26 updates, this update is only for a select group of phones. Specifically, it’s for the iPhone 17 series, that is, iPhone 17, iPhone 17e, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max plus the other phone released last fall, which is not part of the 17 series, iPhone Air.
To upgrade, if you have one of these five phones: go to the Settings app on the iPhone, choose General, then Software Update. Next, select Download and Install, and the software will download from there. This download was large, 17.44GB on my iPhone 17 Pro Max — unheard of for what looks from the outside like a minor-point update. Note that if you’re updating from an earlier iOS 26 version, or even from iOS 18, your download will be much bigger and take longer to install.
What It’s About
Some users of the five phones covered by this update have reported issues with the battery, specifically a problem recharging when the iPhone is drained or nearly drained of battery life.
This update is here to fix that problem so that what, after all, are the most recently released Apple phones of all, will function properly again. Apple says the issue has only affected a small number of users.
Apple iOS 26.5.1 Security
There are no security issues in this update. Not one. There were dozens in the last release, iOS 26.5, but this time it’s all about the iPhone battery.
Initial Reactions
There have been a lot of reactions asking whether the update is really only for iPhone 17 series and iPhone Air. It is. And just as many questioning whether the size of the download mentioned was accurate. My update was said to be 17GB but downloaded and installed quickly, less than 20 minutes, so it’s possible some of the files were not as big as predicted.
Some users have commented that their phones seem snappier post-update and almost none have suggested a new problem has been introduced.
Apple iOS 26.5.1 Initial Verdict: Update
If you have one of the relevant phones, this update is definitely worth installing to overcome the battery issue alone — even if you’ve never experienced it yet because, say, your phone had never got so low on battery.