ios26 and System Data taking 60%+ of my storage

This seems to be a major bug.

Since installing iOS 26, on two occasions I've pulled my phone (15 Pro) out of my pocket, tried to use it, and been confronted by both "storage full" notifications and lagging/freezing/crashing apps. Upon checking settings, an update is downloaded but shows an error, and all my previously free space is consumed by "iOS". It is now impossible to perform any task that requires writing to storage.

I had automatic updates turned on. The phone would automatically download an update, but something's clearly going wrong with that because it fills my remaining storage. One update should not take up 70-90GB (all I had free).

Is there a name for a memory leak that affects storage space instead?

I was able to temporarily fix the problem by disabling automatic updates (and downloads), then power cycling the device. I guess I'll just have to update manually now.

“disabling automatic updates (and downloads), then power cycling the device.”

worked for me. Thanks

I have had a similar issue with my iPhone 15 pro max. i have found that restarting your phone and waiting 5-10 min normally allows it to drop back down to its normally 20 or so gb of usage. i have not had to restore things yet. now i am experiencing a significant power drain over the last couple weeks.

Try this.

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

Switch Days to (Explain: Oct 11 2025 to Nov 11 2025) and shut down time 15-30 minutes and turn on again and is no one system data.

IPadOS will use available storage space as a cache to boost system performance - automatically managing the space used, releasing space as required for normal system operation.

Sometimes, such when performing a system software update, it may be necessary to manually purge this cached data.

I don’t feel like that is a solution. I’d rather have a bug fix than do this for Apple. It‘s their job to fix this storage leak issue. I’d have to reinstall of my banking app and redo the sign ins which I wouldn’t be keen on doing obviously. If you’re device has 128 GB of storage then this is a device breaking bug. Pair this with apple photos and other apps caching like crazy in ballooning up to 6 GB per app and you have a big problem.

[Edited by Moderator]

Thankyou