How to Prepare for iOS 27 on iPhone & iPadOS 27 on iPad

iOS 27 for iPhone and iPadOS 27 for iPad will be released on Monday, September 14. That’s pretty soon, and while you don’t have to update right away on the release day, you still might be interested in preparing your devices for installing the next major system software update for iOS and iPadOS.

Since iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 are heavily focused on performance improvements, you’ll almost certainly see a benefit when updating from the OS 26 releases, and plus there are nice refinements to Liquid Glass interface, and new Siri AI features too.

Let’s take a look at the steps you’ll want to take to be sure you’re ready for iOS 27.

1: Will your iPhone run iOS 27? Will your iPad run iPadOS 27?

Every iPhone that can run iOS 26 will also be able to run iOS 27, this includes:

• iPhone Duo
• All iPhone 18 models (Pro, Pro Max)
• All iPhone 17 models (Pro, Pro Max, base model)
• All iPhone Air models
• All iPhone 16 models (Pro, Pro Max, base model)
• All iPhone 15 models (Pro, Pro Max, Plus, base model)
• All iPhone 14 models (Pro, Pro Max, Plus, base model)
• All iPhone 13 models (Pro, Pro Max, Plus, mini, base model)
• All iPhone 12 models (Pro, Pro Max, Plus, mini, base model)
• All iPhone 11 models (Pro, Pro Max, base model)
• iPhone SE 3rd generation, and newer
• iPhone SE 2nd generation, and newer

The iPad side of things is a bit more strict unfortunately, but many of the iPadOS 26 compatible iPad models also can run iPadOS 27, with a few exceptions:

• iPad Pro 11″ 2nd gen and newer
• iPad Pro 12.9″ 4th gen and newer
• iPad Air 4th generation and newer
• iPad 9th generation and newer
• iPad Mini 6th gen and newer

You’ll notice the iPad Pro 11″ 1st gen is out, and so is the iPad Pro 12.9″ 3rd gen. iPad Air 3rd gen is also not supported, and neither is the iPad 8th gen, or the iPad mini 5th gen. Why those devices were excluded is not clear, but admittedly it’s a bit disappointing.

2: Make Sufficient Storage Room Available for the iOS 27 Update

You will need to have a reasonably large amount of free storage available on your iPhone or iPad to be able to successfully download and install the iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 update onto your device.

Aim to have at least 30GB free to have no issues with downloading and installing. That doesn’t mean the update will end up taking up that much space when it’s done, but it does need space available to be complete the update.

• Go to Settings > General > Storage to take a look at how much storage you have available, and where you have opportunities to free up storage space

Delete or offload unused apps, old files and media you don’t need, old podcasts and shows cluttering things up, etc.

3: Update Your iPhone / iPad Apps

After deleting unneeded or unused apps, now is a great time to update them so they are fully compatible with iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. Developers have been working on these updates for months now, and many apps are already updated and ready for the latest system software release from Apple.

• Go to the “App Store”, then tap your profile, and go to the “Updates” section. Choose to update apps individually, or select “Update All” to install all available updates to your apps

4: Backup Your iPhone or iPad

Backing up your device is a critical part of getting ready for any major system software update, perhaps even the most important part. Backing up matters because it preserves your personal data, photos, notes, emails, text messages, all of your stuff, so that in the rare case that something goes wrong, you can easily restore and recover.

The easiest way to backup is to iCloud, and you should do that regularly.

You can also use a USB cable with iPhone or iPad to backup locally to a computer with Finder on Mac, or to a Windows PC. The benefit to backing up locally to a computer is that it allows you to downgrade if you so choose (at least while the compatible iOS 26 versions are being signed by Apple), but since iOS 27 is a performance focused update it’s unlikely most users will ever want to do that.

Do not skip this, backups matter!

5: Ready? Update to iOS 27 / iPadOS 27 When Released on September 14

With iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 set for release on Monday, September 14, Apple usually makes these updates available round 10:00 AM PDT.

• Go to Settings app > General > Software Update, and choose to update to iOS 27 / iPadOS 27 when it’s available

You can certainly install the update the moment it’s available, or you can wait a bit, there’s no rush. But overall with iOS 27 being such a nice update over iOS 26, it’s a recommended upgrade and worth installing for most iPhone and iPad users.

6: Got an Apple Watch? Update that to WatchOS 27 too!

If you also have an Apple Watch, you’ll want to update that to watchOS 27 as well when it’s available. That’s easy to do and it will likely happen automatically, after you’ve installed iOS 27 onto your paired iPhone, but you can also initiate that manually from your iPhone running iOS 27:

• From iPhone after it has updated to iOS 27, go to Watch > Settings > Software Update and install watchOS 27

What about tvOS 27 for Apple TV?

Your Apple TV will update itself when it’s on and connected to the internet once tvOS 27 is available. But you can also initiate that process manually through Settings > General > Software Update on the Apple TV itself.

What about macOS 27 Golden Gate? Is my iOS2 27 iPhone compatible with it for iPhone Mirroring etc?

Updating to macOS 27 Golden Gate from macOS Tahoe is super easy, and we’ll cover a similar step-by-step guide separately in another article.

Your iPhone with iOS 27 will be fully compatible with MacOS and features including iPhone Mirroring, but you still will probably want to jump onto MacOS 27 when it’s available as well.

If you just want to update, it’ll be through the usual method:

•  Apple menu > System Settings > General > Software Update

Be sure to backup your Mac first.

What if I am currently running iOS 27 beta or ipadOS 27 beta?

Users who are already running the iOS 27 beta or iPadOS 27 beta have likely already installed the RC updates, but will get the opportunity to install the final version starting Monday September 14 directly from Software Update in Settings too.

One added thing to note about beta testers is that you’ll likely want to disable beta updates on the iPhone or iPad at some point so you do not inadvertently get iOS 27.1 beta, iOS 27.2 beta, etc. This can be done in Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates > OFF

–

Are you ready to go? Are you excited about installing iOS 27 on iPhone, and iPadOS 27 on iPad? Let us know your thoughts, and if you have any other additional tips you take into consideration before installing major system updates like these.