Every September, Apple releases the year's big new versions of its software: this year they're iOS 27 for the iPhone, iPadOS 27 for the iPad, and macOS 27 — Apple has named it Golden Gate — for the Mac. Apple's iPhone event is on September 9, and the updates are expected to become available to everyone in the days that follow.
Then your devices start asking. A red badge appears on Settings, a banner turns up, and it's easy to feel you're falling behind by not tapping Install Now.
You aren't. Our advice is the same every year: there's no prize for being first. The people who install on day one are, in effect, the last round of testers.
Why waiting is usually the smarter move
A brand-new version of iOS or macOS has been tested by Apple and by developers, but never before by tens of millions of ordinary people using every app, printer, and accessory ever made. That first week is when the awkward surprises show up.
- Other companies' apps have to catch up too. Your bank, your accountant's software, your printer, your camera, your hearing aids, your car — each of those is a separate company that has to update its own app to suit the new version. Most manage it quickly. Some don't.
- The first fix-up release does the real work. Apple almost always follows a big release with a smaller one — a 27.0.1 or a 27.1 — that quietly sorts out the problems the first wave found. Letting that one arrive first means you get the new version with the rough edges already smoothed off.
- Nothing is lost by waiting. The features are still there when you're ready. The only thing you give up is the bragging rights.
The exception to all this is a security update, and it's an important one — see below.
Do this before you update anything
Whenever you do decide to go ahead, back up first. It's the difference between an annoying afternoon and a genuinely bad one.
- On an iPhone or iPad: open Settings, tap your name at the top, then iCloud → iCloud Backup, and tap Back Up Now. Wait for it to finish before you start the update.
- On a Mac: plug in your Time Machine drive and let a backup complete, or check that your existing backup ran recently.
- Plug the device in. Big updates want power, and a Mac or iPhone that runs flat part-way through an install is exactly the situation you were trying to avoid.
Our guide to backing up your iPhone or iPad walks through it properly if you'd like the longer version.
How to stop it installing itself
If you'd rather choose your own moment, you can turn off automatic installation and leave the update waiting until you're ready.
- iPhone or iPad: Settings → General → Software Update → Automatic Updates. Turn off Install iOS Updates (and, if you'd rather it didn't even download in the background, Download iOS Updates).
- Mac: System Settings → General → Software Update, then click the ⓘ button beside Automatic Updates. Turn off Install macOS updates.
The difference that matters: big versions versus security updates
This is the part worth remembering long after this September.
- A big yearly version — iOS 27, macOS 27 — changes how things look and work. It's fine to let this one settle.
- A security update — usually a small download with a name like iOS 26.7.1, or one Apple pushes out on its own — exists because someone found a way in. Install these promptly. Waiting on one of these carries real risk; waiting on the big version carries none.
If you're ever unsure which sort you're being offered, we're happy to look at the screen with you and tell you.
What you're waiting for: five things in the new versions
Waiting isn't the same as missing out, and it's worth knowing what's actually coming. Apple previewed these back in June, at the developers' conference it holds every summer, so this is what it has told us to expect:
- A much-improved Siri. This is the headline. Apple has rebuilt Siri to hold a more natural back-and-forth conversation and to actually do things inside your apps, rather than offering to search the web.
- Things happen faster. Apple says apps open noticeably quicker, and that sending files between devices with AirDrop is dramatically faster.
- The Phone app tells you who's calling and why. A new "Call Context" feature brings up relevant information about a call while you're on it.
- FaceTime can use both cameras at once. Handy for showing someone what you're looking at while they can still see your face.
- Better parental controls, and a design you can tone down. The glassy see-through look introduced last year now has a slider so you can reduce the transparency if it makes text harder to read — a real improvement for a lot of our clients.
Two caveats worth keeping in mind. Features announced in June occasionally arrive later than the first release, or change along the way — so treat this as the plan rather than a promise. And as always, some of them depend on having a newer device: Apple says iOS 27 will run on iPhone models back to the iPhone 11, though the newest features tend to need newer hardware.
When going ahead sooner is perfectly reasonable
Waiting is the general rule, not a law. It's fine to update early if:
- You've bought a new device that already came with it — it's had no chance to be anything else.
- There's a specific feature you actually want and you have a current backup.