6 Fixes for "Apple Intelligence Stuck Downloading on iOS 26"

It’s time to switch to new iPhones. However, recently, a new iPhone 16 Pro Max user reported that her Apple Intelligence was stuck downloading on iOS 26 after transferring everything from her old phone to the new one.

Normally, it won’t take too much time to finish downloading Apple Intelligence. Therefore, if it seems unusually long when you’re trying to download Apple Intelligence on iOS 26, it grabs your attention. In this post, we’ll explain the possible reasons why Apple Intelligence is stuck downloading on iOS 26 and demonstrate what measures you can take to resolve it.

How Long Does the Apple Intelligence Take to Download?

After you have upgraded to iOS 26, the default Apple Intelligence models begin downloading. The time available to download depends on your internet speed, the stability of your Wi-Fi connection, and how loaded Apple's servers are.

As iOS 26 is a large update, it might require more time to download. For these reasons, to ensure the fastest experience, you’re recommended to keep a stable Wi-Fi connection and power source.

Why Does My Apple Intelligence Get Stuck Downloading on iOS 26?

There are several reasons why Apple Intelligence is stuck downloading on iOS 26.

• If many users download Apple Intelligence at the same time, Apple’s servers will become congested or delayed.
• An unstable or slow Wi-Fi connection may cause the download to hang. Slow or dropped internet speeds may also halt the large update files from downloading.
• Sometimes, temporary files or cached data on your device become corrupted, and the download process becomes stuck.
• Apple Intelligence requires a lot of free storage space to download and install. If your device is nearly full, the update will never complete.
• If you’re suffering from iOS bugs or glitches, you may be stuck downloading. However, it’s more frequent to find these bugs on iOS 26 beta versions.
• It’s noted that some models, like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, are more likely to encounter issues with Apple Intelligence because of the hardware.
• If your device language or region isn’t in a supported configuration, it can cause the download or installation to freeze.

How to Fix Apple Intelligence Getting Stuck Downloading?

After analyzing the possible reasons behind the “Apple Intelligence stuck downloading” issue, we’ll introduce several proven solutions to fix the problem and recover the downloading process.

Wait for More Time

It may take a longer time to install Apple Intelligence on iOS 26. Therefore, it’s a good idea to wait longer. During the downloading process, many background tasks are being processed. If your network is slow or if your device is dealing with other processes at the same time, you may take more time to download the Apple Intelligence.

Restart Your iPhone

If it’s still stuck on the download screen after waiting for a long time, restart your device. Simply restarting your iPhone will clear out any temporary glitches or software conflicts that might be causing the download.

• For Face ID-enabled iPhones - no Home button, press and hold the Side button and one of the Volume buttons until the power slider appears.
• For iPhones with a Home button, use the same process but use the Top (or Side) button. Then you can slide to power off your iPhone, wait 30 seconds, and then press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears.

Check and Improve Your Network Connection

As mentioned, one of the common reasons for the downloading issue is a poor network connection. If your Wi-Fi signal is weak or unstable, you may encounter “pause”, “stuck”, or “failure” when downloading the Apple Intelligence. To ensure a stable network, you can:

• Change to a stronger Wi-Fi connection.
• Move closer to the Wi-Fi source and avoid interference.
• Refresh the network connection by restarting your router.
• If the Wi-Fi connection is still unstable, use cellular data as an alternative.

Change Your iPhone’s Region and Language

Apple Intelligence might be available in certain regions and languages at the moment. If your device's region or language isn't something that has been supported, for instance, Chinese (China) or German (Germany), the download won’t complete or will stall. By changing these settings, you are making it Apple server and software-compatible

Here is how to change the language on your iPhone.

1. Open Settings and scroll down to “General”.
2. Tap on “Language & Region” and “iPhone Language”.
3. Choose the “English” option from the list and click on “Done”.

Here is how to change the region on your iPhone.

1. Navigate back to “Language & Region” in Settings.
2. Tap on Region.
3. Choose the United States or the United Kingdom and tap on “Done” to confirm.

Reset All Settings

By resetting all the settings on your iPhone, you can eliminate misconfigurations, system glitches, or setting conflicts that could be preventing an interruption in the update process. You won’t lose any data since this only resets network settings, system preferences, and other settings to default. A simple resetting will provide your device with a fresh start, initiating the download process from the beginning.

To reset all settings on your iPhone or iPad, take the following steps.

1. Navigate to “Settings”, “General”, and “Transfer or Reset iPhone”.
2. Click “Reset” and then “Reset All Settings” to get started.

Free Up Storage Space

The process of downloading Apple Intelligence may consume a lot of storage space. If your phone is nearly full, it may lack enough storage space to perform the download and install, causing the process to lag. By deleting unnecessary apps, pictures, videos, or other files to create some free space, you provide the space required for the updating process to execute smoothly. This enables the system to allocate the required resources and complete the download without discontinuity, and fix the problem. To clear cache and temporary files, you can:

1. Open Settings and tap on Safari.
2. Scroll down to choose “Clear History and Data”. Besides, you can delete old photos, videos, or other files to get more internal space.

Use iPhone Repair Software

If you still fail to fix the “Apple Intelligence” issue with the mentioned method, you can use iPhone Repair software. Among the most popular tools in 2025, BuhoRepair is worth trying. It allows you to fix hundreds of common problems for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, such as downloading stuck, black screen, recovery loops, activation errors, app crashing, and more. With a simple click, you can restore your device, upgrade or downgrade iOS versions, and automatically put the device into or out of recovery mode. Under the “Standard Repair” mode, you don’t need to worry about data loss.

Here is how to use BuhoRepair to fix the Apple Intelligence stuck downloading issue.

Step 1. Free install BuhoRepair on your computer and connect your iPhone to the computer via a USB cable. Choose the System Repair mode.

Step 2. Read the notes and choose the Standard Repair mode.

Step 3. Wait for a few minutes until it finishes repairing.

Conclusion

With these methods, you can get the Apple Intelligence downloading back to normal. Meanwhile, to prevent your iPhone from encountering a similar issue, you’re supposed to ensure a stable network and enough internal space before downloading apps on iOS 26. Besides, if you encounter other issues when running iOS 26, you can use an iPhone Repair tool like BuhoRepair to fix them. Hopefully, you can have a good experience when using iOS 26.