You might not think much about it, but the virtual keyboard is one of the most essential parts of how the iPhone works. Over the years, Apple has made countless tweaks to make typing easier, from auto-correction and predictive suggestions to swipe typing and smarter layouts.
However, since the release of iOS 26 last month, a growing number of users have complained that something feels out of order. If you’ve noticed more typos than usual, you’re not alone. And it turns out that there really is a bug affecting the iPhone’s virtual keyboard.
Writes the correct letter but gets the wrong one instead
A YouTuber named Michi NekoMichi recently shared a video compiling complaints about the iPhone keyboard. According to NekoMichi’s video, he “makes more mistakes than usual” when typing in iOS 26.
He is not alone. In the comments section, several iPhone users shared the same frustration, claiming that their devices insert the wrong letters even when they’re sure they pressed the right key.
Some users speculate that the problem may be worse on newer iPhones with thinner bezels, as the keyboard sits closer to the edges of the screen. Others believe it is related to screen sensitivity or touch screen issues. However, considering that users of different iPhone models have reported the same error, the problem is likely related to iOS rather than hardware.
To investigate, Michi recorded a slow-motion video of himself typing the same sentence repeatedly in the Notes app on an iPhone running iOS 26.0.1, the latest public release. The recordings show that the system often replaces one letter with another for no apparent reason. For example, pressing “U” sometimes results in “J.”
There is no clear pattern: the same word can produce different errors on separate trials. “As a fellow iOS user for many years, I’ve noticed this for a few years now and have been pulling my hair out trying to figure it out,” one user wrote. Another simply said, “I knew I wasn’t crazy.”
Similar reports have also appeared on Reddit, X and Apple’s own discussion forums. Some say it’s most noticeable when you type quickly, while others claim it happens even when you slowly tap one letter at a time.
Curious, I tried the same experiment myself. Using my iPhone 17 Pro Max running iOS 26.1 beta 4, I filmed a slow-motion video while typing a few sentences and the error appeared immediately. In a test, I repeatedly typed “thumbs up” and several times the system replaced letters I had typed correctly. In one case, pressing “H” produced a “U” instead.
The cause remains unclear
At first glance, it’s easy to blame autocorrect, but that doesn’t seem to be the cause. The keyboard detects the correct press and yet the output changes afterwards, which means the problem probably occurs after input recognition, not before.
Even disabling autocorrect made no difference.
The iPhone keyboard in iOS 26 often detects the wrong keystroke despite pressing the correct key.
Foundry
Apple’s virtual keyboard relies heavily on machine learning to adapt to each user’s typing habits. It constantly learns from your messages and notes to improve suggestions and accuracy. If the fault lies in this adaptive layer, it may explain why the problem appears inconsistently.
It’s also possible that the problem is linked to Apple’s keyboard pronunciation model, which silently expands touch areas for likely letters. For example, after typing “Han”, the system predicts that “L” is the most likely next character and adjusts the keyboard’s touch zones accordingly.
But even this mechanism appears to behave correctly in the slow-motion footage, suggesting that something else is interfering with how the input is processed. In short, the error seems to happen after the keyboard accepts the correct keystroke, not due to user error or predictive modeling.
No fix in sight, but iOS 26.1 could change that
So far, Apple has not publicly acknowledged this keyboard issue. The only thing affected users can do is submit feedback using Apple’s Feedback Assistant (available online or as part of beta versions of iOS).
Apple has a history of quietly fixing minor bugs without publicly acknowledging them in changelogs, so there’s a chance this keyboard issue could be quietly fixed as well.
The company is currently testing iOS 26.1, which is expected to be released in the coming weeks. While the issue persists in the latest beta, with any luck Apple will fix this bug before it becomes one of those annoying issues that quietly persists through multiple updates.