I was under the impression that IOS always does a backup before doing an upgrade. Can I use that backup to restore the phone to IOS 18.5?
If so, is there a guide to restoring the Icloud backup?
iPhone SE, iOS 26
The iCloud backup it takes in iOS18 before upgrading to 26 is usable in 26. It would be usable in 18 on another phone with 18 on or 26, but it does not contain the iOS18 firmware itself, just your data and settings. It doesn’t even contain your apps.
And now you have the production release of iOS26 installed you cannot restore back to 18 by any means.
No.
What's the fuller answer? Does Apple do a backup before an update? Is that backup not accessible to users? Do they delete it afterwards? Should I be doing my own backup before an upgrade?
Downgrade IOS 26 to IOS 18 - Can I use the Icloud backup the phone does before updating?
