Throughout the year, Apple releases several updates with new features. These are typically 1-2 GB in size and install quickly. However, iOS 26.3 weighs over 10 gigabytes and poses a challenge for some users. You need more than 15 GB of free storage to install it. Not everyone has that much free storage space on their iPhone. Especially smartphones with 64 or 128 GB quickly reach capacity and have limited free storage for updates. And so apps or photos have to make way. But that doesn’t have to be the case!
Install iOS 26.3 without deleting data
The 15 GB of storage your iPhone requires is not required permanently. iOS 26.3 requires no more memory than iOS 26.2.1 or earlier operating systems. The 15 gigabytes are only used temporarily to download the new system and prepare for installation. The memory will be available again later.
And so the memory problem can be avoided with a very old trick. Before iOS 5 in 2011, iPhone updates could not be installed directly on the phone. If you wanted to install a new update at the time, you had to use a PC. This method still works today and requires hardly any storage space on the device.
Here’s how it works
On the Mac, it works without any extra software. Connect the iPhone to the computer via USB cable. The iPhone will appear on the side like a USB stick. Click on “Update software” to download iOS 26 to your computer and then install it via cable. This requires significantly less free storage space on your iPhone than installing without a computer would.
It is just as easy on a Windows PC – but you must first download iTunes. Once iTunes is installed, start the program and connect your iPhone via USB. The iPhone is automatically recognized by iTunes, and you can download and install iOS 26 by clicking on “Update software”.
Incidentally, this trick works not only with iOS 26.3 but also with any other iPhone or iPad update when there is insufficient free storage space on the device.
