iOS26.2 and macOS Tahoe 26.2 Reminders-Urgent-Alarm inextricably tied to iPhone 16

ISSUE:

• • iOS26.2 and macOS Tahoe 26.2 Reminders-Urgent-Alarm inextricably tied to iPhone 16
  • Unable to change alarm so as to set iPhone 17

 

DEVICES:

iPhone 17 Pro Max (2025) iOS 26.2:

- on purchase, setup from iPhone 16 using Apple’s setup process at Apple outlet

iPhone 16 Pro Max (2024)  iOS 26.2

- on purchase, setup from iPhone 15 using Apple’s setup process at Apple outlet

MacBook Air (2025) macOS Tahoe 26.2

- on purchase, setup from scratch

iCloud account:

- one, and only one, iCloud Account - all 3 devices signed into that account

DESCRIPTION:

When creating a Reminder on any of the above devices and toggling on the Urgent setting, the Alarm is always set to iPhone 16 and only activates on 16 (when 16 on and logged in to iCloud Account).

iPhone16:

iPhone 17:

MacBook Air:

*iPhone 16 name redacted for security

TROUBLESHOOTING:

The following troubleshooting steps have been carried out from web research on this issue.

1.  Disable iPhone 16 Reminders iCloud sync

On iPhone 16, remove Reminders from iCloud:

Settings | <name> | iCloud | Saved to iCloud | Show All | Reminders | Off

Restart all 3 devices

Create new Reminder on both iPhone 17 and MacBook Air:

Both Reminders synced to 17 and Air – confirming same iCloud Account

Neither Reminder synced to 16 – confirming 16 Reminders removed from iCloud Account

Result:

Reminder created on 17: alarm still set to 16 -  “Alarm on ***16”

Reminder created on Air: alarm still set to 16 -  “Alarm on ***16”

No alarm on 16:  expected, 16 Reminders removed from iCloud Account 

2.  Remove iPhone 16 from iCloud Account

This step resulted in same result for MacBook Air, but strange behaviour on iPhone 17.

On iPhone 16, sign out of iCloud Account:

Settings | <name> | Sign Out | Sign Out But Don’t Erase | Continue | Continue Anyway | Continue | <enter password>

Restart all 3 devices

Create new Reminder on MacBook Air:

Reminder synced to 17 and Air – confirming same iCloud Account

Reminder not synced to 16 – confirming 16 removed from iCloud Account

Result:

Reminder created on 17:  alarm still set to 16 - “Alarm on ***16”

No alarm on 16:  expected – 16 removed from iCloud Account 

Create new Reminder on iPhone 17:

Reminder synced to 17 and Air – confirming same iCloud Account

Reminder not synced to 16 – confirming 16 removed from iCloud Account

Result:

Strange behaviour:

The Reminder Urgent setting now missing on iPhone 17:

This strange behaviour was repeated 3 times:

- iPhone 16 logged in to iCloud account – Urgent setting available on 17

- iPhone 16 not logged in to iCloud account – Urgent setting missing on 17

What is even more bizarre:

On first restart of iPhone 17 after iPhone 16 signed out of iCloud Account – Reminder Urgent setting is displayed briefly for approximately 2-3-seconds then disappears.  Subsequent restarts of iPhone 17 do not exhibit this behaviour Urgent setting missing from outset.

 

SUMMARY:

iOS and macOS 26.2 Reminders-Urgent-Alarm is always set to iPhone 16, irrespective of iPhone 16 status.

Furthermore – it is inextricably fixed to the physical iPhone 16 not its name:

Initial iPhone 16 name:  ***16

Rename iPhone 16 to:  Y  (Apple Account now refers to iPhone 16 as Y)

Rename iPhone 17 to :  ***16 (initial 16 name – Apple Account uses this name)

Restart all 3 devices

Create new Reminder on MacBook Air:

- alarm still set to 16:  “Alarm on ***16

- alarm does not sound on 16 – not yet signed in to iCloud account

Create new Reminder on iPhone 17:

- Urgent setting missing on 17 (same as in Step 2)

Manually sign in (i.e. not using 17) renamed iPhone 16 “Y” to iCloud Account

Restart all 3 devices

Create new Reminder on MacBook Air

- alarm still set to 16:  “Alarm on ***16

- alarm sounded on iPhone 16

Create new Reminder on iPhone 16 and iPhone 17

- both now set alarm to:  “Alarm on Y” (different to Air but same physical 16)

- both alarms sounded on physical iPhone 16

CONCLUSION:

• • iOS 26.2 and macOS Tahoe 26.2 Reminders-Urgent-Alarm is inexplicably linked to the physical iPhone 16
  • Renaming iPhone 16 and/or removing it from iCloud Account does not break the link
  • It is as if the alarm is “hardwired” to the physical iPhone 16

QUESTION:

• • How to break 26.2 Reminders-Urgent-Alarm seemingly hardwired link to iPhone 16 - and set to iPhone 17 ?
  • If anyone has any sensible suggestions, or better still a resolution, I would be extremely grateful to hear them.