Apple now offers iOS 27 first to iPhones still on iOS 26, and moves iOS 26.7.1 to Also AvailableApple now offers iOS 27 first to iPhones still on iOS 26, and moves iOS 26.7.1 to Also Available

Apple has swapped the order of the two updates it offers to iPhones still running iOS 26, making iOS 27.0.1 the main option in Software Update from 8 October.

MacRumors reported the change on Thursday. On an iPhone running iOS 26, Settings, General, Software Update now shows iOS 27.0.1 in the prominent position at the top of the screen, and iOS 26.7.1 has moved to the smaller Also Available section beneath it. Until this week the arrangement was the other way round. When Apple released iOS 27 and iOS 26.7 together on 14 September, MacTrast reported iOS 26.7 as the main update, with iOS 27 listed as an option at the bottom of the screen. MacRumors says the order held when iOS 27.0.1 and iOS 26.7.1 followed on 28 September, the date Apple's security releases list gives for both.

Apple has not announced the change. It is not forcing anyone onto iOS 27, according to MacRumors, which says installing at least iOS 26.7.1 is still the way to get the latest security fixes. Apple has also not published any iOS 27 adoption figures.

Do you have to install iOS 27?

No. iOS 26.7.1 can still be installed from the Also Available section. Hardware is not the reason to move either: MacTrast noted at launch that iOS 27 runs on every iPhone that supports iOS 26, which means the iPhone 11 and later and the second-generation iPhone SE and later.

The open question is what happens on phones set to update themselves. Apple's support guide describes two settings under Settings, General, Software Update, Automatic Updates. Automatically Install downloads and installs an update overnight while the phone is charging and on Wi-Fi, and notifies the owner first. Automatically Download only fetches it. Neither Apple's guide nor MacRumors says whether automatic installation will now choose iOS 27 on a phone running iOS 26.

Moving is also one way. We reported last month that Apple had stopped signing iOS 26.6.2, closing the way back from iOS 27, so anyone who installs iOS 27 should expect to stay on it.

AT&T carrier settings reach the iOS 27.2 beta

Separately, 9to5Mac reported late on 8 October, Pacific time, that Apple has released AT&T carrier settings 72.0.3 for iPhone 18 Pro Max units running the iOS 27.2 beta, up from 72.0.2. Phones on the public iOS 27.0 releases received version 72.1 last week as part of Apple's response to the fault that left some Pro Max units on AT&T showing SOS instead of service. Beta testers had stayed on 72.0.2 until now. According to 9to5Mac, only the iPhone 18 Pro Max has been affected, which uses a Qualcomm modem in the US; the iPhone 18 Pro, with Apple's C2 modem, has not. Apple has already said that Pro Max units which lost AT&T service need replacing, and that new carrier settings only protect phones that have not yet failed. The beta release changes none of that; it brings testers level with everyone else.

Our take

Twenty-four days after release, Apple has decided iOS 27 is the update it wants people to take. The choice it offered in September still exists, and that matters, but a default decides what most people do. The large button at the top of Software Update is the one most owners tap, and from this week it installs a new major version rather than a security update. Our expectation is that iOS 26's share falls noticeably faster from here.

Staying on iOS 26 for now is not a security risk in itself. iOS 26.7.1 carries the fix for the CoreGraphics flaw Apple said was exploited against targeted individuals, the most serious fix of the autumn so far. The risk is in installing neither, which is what an owner who dismisses the new screen without reading it will do. What Apple has not said is how long iOS 26 will keep receiving fixes, and nobody outside Apple knows.

APPDOOK's reading is that most people can move now. iOS 27.0.1 has been out for ten days and has already dealt with the first round of launch faults. Anyone holding back for an app, an accessory or a work device should install iOS 26.7.1 from Also Available and check that screen each time it changes, since Apple can rearrange it again without notice. For app makers, this is the week the iOS 26 audience begins to shrink in earnest, and the right moment to watch real usage before deciding when to drop it, not to guess.