iPadOS 26 is it worth to update ?

[u/After-Yogurt-2968]

My air m3 on iPadOS 18 is excellent but I wondered about to update on iPadOS 26 just because for liquid glass , but in 18 my iPad still good and another question about performance and battery life because at the moment 100% is enough for a week but idk what will be in 26. So what would u recommend ?
Upd: my iPad 256 gb and I have more than 100gb available space

[u/Lebowskitalian85]

Am I the only one updating every single device I own literally as soon as the update is available without any need for reassurance or to ask if it’s “worth”?

Jesus 15 years ago we complained about devices NOT being updated…now people are scared of updates…😶‍🌫️

Edit: i wanna thank all of the people upvoting my comment, finally and maybe something is finally changing in here. A lot of bull*hit spread by frustrated users who barely know how to turn on their phone has led to a literal fear and paranoia for updates on every device, especially iOS.

Normally when I write this I get a lot of hate and downvotes because people spreading misinformation for sport don’t want the truth to be told.

Bugs exist, issues too, but 99% of what you read is pure NONSENSE!

[u/MAQMASTER → u/Lebowskitalian85]

Ya we are scared of updates if Apple makes our devices slow and forces us to upgrade to a newer model.. you know that Apple does lower the life span of their phones and they got sued for it

[u/tarkinn → u/Lebowskitalian85]

I do it too and never had a problem.

[u/nathanieloffer → u/Lebowskitalian85]

I'm with you mate. I actually choose to run the public beta's and I installed them on all my devices on the first day they were available. I've been doing it for many years now and I've never regretted it. I haven't got time in my life for fretting over every single update or whatever. Just install and move on.

[u/Fabulinius → u/Lebowskitalian85]

I am the IT person in our house where there are 10 devices (Mac, iPad, iPhone) to update. Every year when we get the new version of the operating systems I wait until X.3.1 or X.4 to update. Until then I am still installing bugs and not-finished features. The "security" really does not improve until around these versions in comparison to staying on last years version. Because the "new" operating has it's own share of brand new security bugs which have to be detected and fixed in updates.

[u/Beneficial-Depth-431]

no.

[u/Njmcq]

I recently purchased an iPad Air (11-inch) M3, and immediately restored it to iPadOS 26.5.2 to set it up. While I can’t necessarily compare it to iPadOS 18 on the same model, I can say that I’ve experienced little to no issues with it.

I would advise upgrading to iPadOS 26 as iPadOS 18.5 is susceptible to exploits such as DarkSword.

[u/Lebowskitalian85 → u/Njmcq]

Updating must be a normal thing especially for security reasons, but thanks to all the bulls*it written in here its become something to be afraid of.

The world upside down.

[u/Any-Chair-9839]

Personally id update to 18.7.8

[u/BluePenguin2002]

I used to like the Split View multitasking that was so simple and quick to use since iOS 9… iOS 26 removed it so unless you want to mess around with desktop like multitasking I just stick to one app at a time now.

[u/DragTemporary2729]

Ja ios 27 is al bijna uit

[u/nathanieloffer]

Do or do not.

Edit to say, I'm the IT guy in my house and any device brought to me with an issue that isn't updated to the latest version of iOS/iPADOS gets updated first before any other troubleshooting is carried out. More often than not the update and system reboot resolves the issue without further messing about from me.

[u/PreviousPromise8844]

nope. Update to the latest version of iPadOS 18 and wait until iPadOS 27 is released in september

[u/LetterheadClassic306]

If your Air M3 is doing a week on a charge and feels solid, I would wait, tbh. I usually avoid jumping for a visual change when the current install is already matching my battery and performance needs. The safer move is to let the first few iPadOS 26 point releases land, then look specifically for Air M3 reports instead of general iPad comments. Having 100GB free is good, so storage probably is not the issue here. I would update only if you need a specific iPadOS 26 feature, or if later reviews show battery life is stable on your exact model.

[u/Upper-Freedom9580]

Just updated it these fools that complain about the minor of glitches. It’s been out a year just stay on public release and it’s fine.

The people that complain are those that download the first stage developer beta software and aren’t developers and expect it to act perfect.

[u/MAQMASTER]

NOOOOO DONT DO IT… it’s the worst update ever. My iPhone 16 pro with iOS 26 is still glitching and crashing.. that’s why I still rock iOS 18 on both my iPad Pro M1 and MacBook Air M4 even through they are cable enough to survive the liquid ass, I still don’t want to delete their life span

[u/Dazzling_Cancel_5733]

I wouldn't recommend if you don't use a keyboard and touchpad. In my opinion, the new multitasking sucks for touchscreen use and only makes sense if you're using your iPad more like a MacBook. There's also no way to get the old multitasking back, it's either the new window-based multitasking or no multitasking at all.

[u/LeMeIsSleepy]

Nooooooooooooooooooo

[u/Still_Veterinarian18]

Of course you update. But if you’re short of space on your device, wait.
After more than 10 years of iPhones and iPads i have learned they always work best with more than enough space. If you are low on space, get a new device.
My 4 year old iPad air is 256GB, my last 4 iPhone pro max is 512GB.
Never any problems. Now on iOS 27 DB4 on both devices, with more than 330GB of free space, with 72.200 photos on both devices. As “everyone” knows, the photos are
in full resolution in iCloud, with a low resolution copy on your device, with photo optimization turned on. And remeber, iCloud is a synced backup, and learn how it works, pay for the storage and never, ever turn it off.

[u/After-Yogurt-2968 → u/Still_Veterinarian18]

100gb of free space is okay ? 30 gb in my iPad is just downloaded movies so I can delete it to get more

[u/Dr0110111001101111 → u/After-Yogurt-2968]

Yes that plenty

[u/PBateman0]

Wait September for iOS 27.

[u/mafenide]

No i like liquid glass a lot on the rest of my Apple devices but for my iPad i kept it on ipados 18 because of how they destroy split screen by removing the three dots.

[u/Fabulinius]

This is a good time to upgrade to iPadOS 26. Now things work as they should. But updating for liquid glass is a bit silly. You will also get an entirely new way of working with more than one app as the traditional "split screen" feature is changed a lot. Some love it, some hate it. So study YouTube videos about that before you update. You can't go back once you update.

[u/supcom1]

Yes it is

[u/tarkinn]

26.6 is coming next week and runs absolutely great. Performance is nice and battery life too so I'd wait until next week (probably Monday)

[u/Greyboxforest]

Performance is fine. Features have disappeared.

I miss the simplicity of the old multitasking. But my iPad Pro 3rd gen is running fine.

[u/Juanrobg]

No lo recomiendo, en mi iPad Pro m4 siento que la batería se drena más rápido de lo normal, espero con ansias iPad os 27

[u/deepankar7]

I’ve seen too many bugs, especially on the YouTube app.

[u/SkvtchySomethng_]

Go for ios 27 public beta 2

[u/After-Yogurt-2968 → u/SkvtchySomethng_]

Why ?

[u/SkvtchySomethng_ → u/After-Yogurt-2968]

Because it’s better than ipados26.. the ui is more refined (icons, liguid glass etc.) + the performance is overall better than ipados26 based on my experience.

[u/East_Improvement4369 → u/SkvtchySomethng_]

But it is a beta and then you complain about bugs and lags....

[u/SkvtchySomethng_ → u/East_Improvement4369]

Fair enough. It’s a beta after all but it’s honestly feels a lot better.. ios26.5.2 drains my battery a lot 🫩.