Apple’s next iPhone software update will allow iPhones to be restored without needing a PC or Mac.
iOS 26 is slated to have Recovery Assistant, which is a new method to restore an iPhone to its original working state. The function was seen in the beta version of iOS 26 but it’s only now that Apple offered more information about it. Apple said Recovery Assistant is useful for iPhone devices that ‘doesn’t start up normally’, and explained that it will ‘look for problems and attempt to resolve’ the issue. iPhones running iOS 26 will go into Recovery Mode, and the message ‘This iPhone encountered an issue while starting’ will appear.
It’s been said online that the iPhone will use another Apple device to get the smartphone back to working again. The process can be started via Recovery mode, found in the top-right corner of the screen. On-screen instructions will be shown on the other Apple device.
