At the end of last year, the complaints began to increase: If the iPhone 17 or iPhone Air with an empty battery quit the service for the time being, the devices could no longer be resuscitated after the plug was connected. Instead, the display remains black even after a long wait, and even the key combination for a reset (side button + volume up/down) does not produce any results. As a workaround, the tip that was circulating was to try wireless charging instead, for example using MagSafe. That could be problematic, as not everyone has such accessories at hand. Apparently the refusal to charge affected USB-C in particular – although some users described exactly the opposite behavior. iOS 26.5.1 is supposed to fix loading problems
Apple never officially confirmed the error, but has now responded after around six months. iOS 26.5.1 is now available, which according to the update description brings the following improvement:
This update fixes an issue that for a small number of users could result in wired charging of iPhone Air and iPhone 17 not being possible when the battery was low.
But: Only talk about USB-C, not about MagSafe failures
What is remarkable about Apple’s formulation is the narrow limitation to wired charging. The company does not mention the difficulties with inductive charging, which are also sporadically reported, although user reports sometimes paint an inconsistent picture. Some devices only responded to MagSafe/Qi after they were completely discharged, while others could no longer be brought to life and only accepted a classic USB-C power supply after several attempts.
It is not clear from the brief description whether iOS 26.5.1 only corrects the charging path via cable or makes the behavior when starting from a very low battery level more robust overall. The update is still advisable for owners of the affected models, because in an emergency the error would have the effect of a complete hardware failure – even if the device could ultimately be reactivated using the other charging method.
macOS 26.5.1 also fixes problems
Apple also released a maintenance update for the Mac in the evening; macOS 26.5.1 is now available. This time the focus is not on a general promise of stability without further details, but rather on a very specifically described error that should only affect certain company environments.
According to Apple’s update description, macOS 26.5.1 fixes an issue where Macs with the M5 chip could shut down unexpectedly under certain conditions. The trigger was therefore certain content-filtering network extensions, i.e. network extensions that are primarily used in companies, schools or managed device environments. This means that the error probably didn’t play a role for most private users.
