Apple Says iOS 26 Can Reserve Space for Automatic Software Updates

Friday June 13, 2025 11:13 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

iOS 26 can dynamically reserve space for automatic updates, according to Apple.

iOS 26 Feature
"Depending on the amount of free space available, iOS might dynamically reserve update space for Automatic Updates to download and install successfully," says Apple's release notes for the first iOS 26 developer beta.

This change will ensure that iPhone users who have Automatic Updates turned on in the Settings app actually have enough storage space available for those updates to download and install. However, Apple has not shared any further information about this capability at this time, so it is unclear exactly how it works.

Related Roundups: iOS 26, iPadOS 26

Related Forum: iOS 26

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Top Rated Comments

gleepskip

18 months ago

I hope this feature magically works on my mother-in-law's 32 GB iPad.

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)

sw1tcher

18 months ago

"Depending on the amount of free space available, iOS might dynamically reserve update space for Automatic Updates to download and install successfully," says Apple's release notes for the first iOS 26 developer beta.

This change will ensure that iPhone users who have Automatic Updates turned on in the Settings app actually have enough storage space available for those updates to download and install. However, Apple has not shared any further information about this capability at this time, so it is unclear exactly how it works.

Cheaper than increasing iPhone storage capacity by making 256GB the minimum across all iPhones and not just the Pro Max

#margins

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Yr Blues

18 months ago

Eh, even with Apple we're less and less the user and more and more the product.

We've added a new feature. Your iPhone will automatically purchase the next iPhone for you. I hope you like this innovation as much as we do! ;)

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Mousse

18 months ago

Here's a crazy idea. Add an microSD slot to the iPhone/iPad for stuff like photos and videos. You don't need super high speed storage for the thousands of photos that lives on you devices. Save that fast storage for apps. You'll have plenty of space available for OTA updates.

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

svish

18 months ago

Interesting. Have not kept automatic updates on my devices turned on. I always wait a couple of days at least before updating to see if there are any major problems reported.

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)