Things You Need to Do to Prepare Your iPhone for iOS 27 Update

Apple’s iOS 27 will bring some of the best new features to iPhone this fall, including a new Siri experience, new photo editing tools, improved Liquid Glass experiences, visual intelligence improvements, and more. If you haven’t opted to download the iOS 27 beta to your iPhone in advance to avoid dealing with a buggy experience while the issues are fixed, it’s a good idea to prepare your phone before the new operating system officially launches, likely in September 2026.

The first thing to do while waiting for the iOS 27 update is to update your phone to iOS 26 if you haven’t already. As long as you have an iPhone 11 or later, it will update to iOS 27, but not all features, especially Apple Intelligence, will work on older phones.

Besides updating your software, there are other ways you should prepare, including data backups, storage management, and application compatibility checks. Fortunately, after nearly two decades of iPhone updates, the process has become relatively simple and straightforward.

Before updating to a new operating system, it is important to back up your iPhone. You can do this using cloud services like Apple’s iCloud, or separate services from Google, Amazon, or others. You can even save to your computer.

The reason for these backups before updates is that any major software changes could crash and lose data or require a complete reset. Having this backup is good peace of mind and easy to achieve.

If you’re backing up via iCloud, you’ll need a plan with enough storage space. On iPhone, go to Settings appselect your name at the top, iCloud, iCloud BackupAnd Back up now. You might want to make sure you’re on a Wi-Fi network if you haven’t unchecked Backup to Cellular, especially because the process could eat up your plan’s data. Apple says you don’t need to plug in your device for an iCloud backup, but it’s still a good practice to ensure sufficient battery life.

Apple’s iCloud also has the benefit of letting you select which files, folders and apps you want to back up, allowing you to focus on photos, messages, mail or contacts, rather than having to back them all up at once. If you have the space, it’s a good idea to save everything so you can restore your phone exactly as it was if something goes wrong.

If you don’t want to pay for a larger iCloud plan and Apple’s free 5GB of space isn’t enough, you can also back up to a computer. On a Mac, open Researcher on your computer, connect iPhone via USB-C cable and select Back up all your iPhone data to this Mac. If you’re on a PC, you’ll need to use Apple iTunes for Windows.

Once your device is updated and backed up, the next step is to clean up the storage on the device to ensure you have enough space for the update. The size of the update is said to be just under 5 GB, although this could change. But you still need 18GB to 25GB of free space to ensure a seamless update process. There are plenty of things you can do if you’re low on iPhone storage, including a feature Apple built into its Settings app that helps delete unused apps, duplicate photos, downloaded files, and more. In a pinch, you can transfer files to a cloud storage provider if you have a plan with enough space to do so, then delete them from the local device.

To check storage, go to Settings, General, iPhone Storage to see not only how much storage space you have left, but also what’s using the majority of it. There you will probably also see a list of recommendations to help you free up more storage, such as by reviewing downloaded media. Apple also estimates how much space you can save by following the tool’s advice.

You can also click on each app in this list and some have cleaning options. For example, under Messagesyou can Review large attachments and delete those you no longer need. In Photos, scroll to Utilitiesselect DuplicatesAnd Merge duplicate images that take up double the space, like multiple group photos you forgot you took. Also consider deleting unused apps by selecting them from the iPhone storage list and choosing Download the applicationwhich keeps your data saved on the device, such as a book you are reading or workout logs, while deleting the app. When you need the app again, simply download it again and all saved data comes back to life. Choose Delete the app will delete the program and all its associated data.

Before you leave, there are a few more last-minute checks you might want to consider, especially if you rely on your phone for work or school. Some apps may not work with the new operating system until the developer updates them. And they may not have a new version ready when the operating system launches. This could include relevant business-specific apps, school apps, or even banking services. If you have the opportunity, check with the IT department or school administration to confirm compatibility. If an app update is unlikely to be ready by the time you update your phone, you may want to wait or plan for temporary alternative access, such as relying on your laptop.

Also make sure you know your Apple ID and password. If you forget your iPhone password, you can boot it into recovery mode. Using this feature will likely erase your data, so be careful with this step and read all information before pressing any button.

Finally, make sure the phone has enough charge. It’s a good idea to keep it plugged in with the battery fully charged so you don’t have to worry about the battery dying or draining halfway through the process. Make sure you’re connected to a fast and secure Wi-Fi network, like the ones we typically have at home. And only start the update if you have time to leave your phone for a while. Apple updates can sometimes last more than an hour, especially if something problematic happens.

Keep in mind that while you can absolutely download the update as soon as it’s available, some people like to wait a day, a week, or even a month before doing so. This gives them the opportunity to hear feedback from others and gives Apple time to fix early issues and release subsequent security updates or patches. Apple typically releases at least one major software update in the fall, before the new year.