The first iOS 27 public beta, the next-gen iPhone software, is out. It launched on Monday, July 13 and allowed users to experience Siri AI, an improved Liquid Glass experience and lots more. But if you now have downloader’s remorse, you can go back to iOS 26 (but not earlier). Read on for exactly how.
Oh, and if you haven’t put the beta on your phone yet but you want to, follow this guide.
iOS 27 Public Beta: Why You Might Not Like It
Beta software is by definition not the finished article — that will arrive in September, read this for exactly when. So, hiccups are highly likely. Perhaps it will eat into your battery life, which is especially common in the first days after installation. Or maybe a non-Apple app that’s essential to your daily usage just isn’t playing ball. Again, that’s not uncommon and it’s one of the reasons Apple and pretty much everyone else advises against installing a beta on your main device — if you’re about to install it, choose an iPhone you don’t rely on instead.
iOS 27 Public Beta: How To Downgrade
Most importantly, note that you need to set up your iPhone as new or restore it from an archived backup made before installing the beta.
The process is straightforward but restoring takes a while and involves setting your iPhone up effectively from scratch, so you may feel you want to try living with the iOS 27 beta a little longer — another beta will be along in a couple of weeks.
- Open Finder on your Mac or the Apple Devices app on Windows and connect your iPhone to the computer via USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to Lightning cable, depending on the iPhone model.
- Put the iPhone into Recovery Mode. There are several ways to do this but the method Apple suggests in its support document is this: for iPhones from iPhone 8 onwards (which is what applies here since iOS 27 doesn’t run on iPhones earlier than iPhone 11), press and quickly release the volume up button, press and quickly release the volume down button and then press and hold the side button until you see the Connect to computer screen.
- You’ll be offered an option to update or restore the iPhone. Choose Restore and the iPhone will be wiped and restored to the latest iOS, currently iOS 26.5.2.
- Once it’s done, you can set up your iPhone from scratch, signing in and choosing an iCloud backup to install.
The iOS 27 public beta will still be there if you change your mind.