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Prepare Your iPhone for a Seamless Transition to iOS 18 with These Expert-Approved Strategies

Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET

As iOS 18 begins to roll out to iPhones worldwide, there’s still time to take a few precautions to make your upgrade experience as pleasant as possible.

The new update will be rolling out to tens of millions of handsets over the next few days, and for the most part, the majority of these upgrades will be smooth and painless. But I like to take a few precautions before I let a new update go wild on my system.

Also: iOS 17.7 rolls out this week - here’s why it might be a safer bet than iOS 18

Maybe I’m being overly cautious, but I’ve been burned in the past, so I’d rather spend a few minutes now than a few hours later trying to recover my data and restore my phone.

If you’re the same way, keep reading. Plus, these tips also work for preparing your iPad for the new OS.

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links

If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

How to get your iPhone ready for iOS 18

1. Check availability

First things first: Make sure your phone can get the update. To get the iOS 18 update, you need to have an iPhone running an A12 Bionic chip or later (the A12 Bionic was the first to feature a neural engine).

The iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR are the oldest iPhones that support iOS 18.

Also: Every iPhone model that can be updated to Apple’s iOS 18 (and which ones can’t)

Here’s the list of compatible iPhones in full:

iPhone SE, 2nd gen
iPhone XS, XS Max and XR
iPhone 11 series
iPhone 12 series
iPhone 13 series
iPhone 14 series
iPhone 15 series
iPhone 16 series

To get Apple Intelligence , you will need an iPhone with an A17 Pro chip or later. This means the newly-released iPhone 16 range, which uses the new A18 chip, or an iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Also: The best iPads of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed

The following iPads will get iPadOS 18:

iPad Pro models from 2018 and later (3rd generation onwards)
iPad Air models from 2019 and later (3rd generation onwards)
iPad models from 2020 and later (8th generation onwards)
iPad mini models from 2019 and later (5th generation onwards)

2. Consider playing the ‘wait-and-see’ game

Almost every iOS update seems to have one bug or another. If you’re someone who relies on your iPhone, you might be tempted to delay the update for a few days so you can see just how buggy this release is, or maybe even wait for the iOS 18.0.1 bug fix release that will inevitably be rolled out soon after.

However, because iOS updates are usually brimming with security updates, I don’t recommend waiting. If you insist on taking this course of action, you do need to make sure that your iPhone isn’t going to automatically update itself during that time.

Also: The best iOS 18 features that will make updating your iPhone worthwhile

To do so, go to Settings > General > Software Update and turn off Automatic Updates until you are ready to update.

If you don’t install iOS 18, then make sure to install the iOS 17.7 update .

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3. Update your apps and free up space

I recommend updating all your apps if you’re the sort of person who has disabled automatic updates and forgets to do it manually. Running older apps on the new release could cause glitches and issues.

Making space before installing a new update is also a good idea. A new iOS release is a good motivator to get rid of any apps you’re not using anymore.

You need at least a gigabyte to carry out an update. Two to three GB of free space will speed up the update process. With less space than that, your iPhone will have to do a lot of housekeeping to make room.

Also: I decluttered my iPhone and freed up gigs of space. Here’s how

iOS updates can delete apps to make space to install the update and then redownload the apps, but this makes the update take a lot of time.

4. Back up your data

I recommend having two backups of your data – one in the cloud in case things go bad, and one on a PC or Mac in case things go really bad.

Apple has a support document detailing how to make effective backups to iCloud on a Mac or PC.

If you don’t think you need to do this, imagine that your iPhone is erased right now. Everything is gone. Have you lost anything important? If the answer is yes, you need to make at least one backup.

5. Know your iCloud password

Following the upgrade, you’ll need to enter your iCloud password to reconnect to all your data, apps, and photos. If you don’t have that password close at hand (remember, having it on the device you’re upgrading doesn’t work), then this is a good time to fix that.

Don’t know what it is? Now might be the time to reset it .

Also: I downloaded iOS 18 on my iPhone 14, and it made content creation so much easier

Also, if your local backup is encrypted, remember that you’ll need that password if something goes wrong. Makes sure that’s also saved somewhere other than on your iPhone.

6. Charge your device

While you can technically update iOS with only 50% battery, it’s better to be safe than sorry and put it on a charger. Running out of power mid-update wouldn’t be good.

7. Check your connectivity

It is possible to update an iPhone over a sketchy internet connection, but it’s far better and less frustrating to carry out the update over a fast, reliable connection.

8. Download the update

Now you’re ready! Either wait for iOS to be downloaded and installed automatically or, if you’re impatient, tap Settings > General > Software Update and start the update from there.

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