Mike Peterson
The next update to Apple's iOS could kill support for older devices like the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s Plus, and the original iPhone SE.
According to the report from French site iPhoneSoft, Apple's iOS 15 update will seemingly drop support for devices with an A9 chip when it launches later in 2021. That corroborates a previous rumor about iOS 15 compatibility.
All three devices slated to lose current iOS compatibility are at least four years old. The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were both released in September 2015, while the original iPhone SE debuted in March 2016.
In addition to the iPhones, iPhoneSoft also says a number of iPads will no longer be supported by iOS 15. Here's what may be getting left behind.
- iPhone 6s (2015)
- iPhone 6s Plus (2015)
- iPhone SE (2016)
- iPad mini 4 (2015)
- iPad Air 2 (2014)
- iPad 5 (2017)
Per iPhoneSoft, the full list of current iPhone devices that will be compatible with iOS 15 include:
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2020)
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XR
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 7
The list of compatible iPads include:
- 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2015 and later)
- 11-inch iPad Pro (2018 and later)
- 10.5-inch iPad Pro
- 9.7-inch iPad Pro
- iPad Air 4
- iPad Air 3
- iPad 8
- iPad 7
- iPad 6
- iPad mini 5
Apple maintains support for older devices for several years after their release. When it does cut support, it typically does so because of hardware constraints.
The last time Apple culled the list of supported devices was with its iOS 13 update, which nixed support for the iPhone 6, iPhone 5s, six-generation iPod touch, the first-generation iPad Air, and third-generation iPad mini.
Andrew Orr
Malcolm Owen
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10 Comments
It should be noted that Apple will continue to support the older devices with periodic updates to iOS 14, usually for security reasons for many more years.
We have an original iphone se which runs exceptionally well with ios 14. I think because it needs less cpu to power the smaller screen it is more efficient than a 6 or 6s. So, crossing fingers it will get the ios 15 update when it comes. Lovely small phone ....
Hope, Apple keeps supporting 6S for one more cycle. I am ok long as Apps keep running on IOS 14 after they are upgraded to run on newer IOS. Hard to let go perfectly working phone just because the Apps need newer OS that is not supported on your phone. Years back switched to iPhone because newer IOS were supported on older iPhones for long time.
And what would be the hardware constraint in this case? It’s not RAM (2-3 GB) is part of both A9 and A10 based devices.
It’s not neural processing, that came only with the A11.
The only significant difference, aside from compute power which would make the older phones simply run not as quickly, are the low-power CPU cores.
The only way that would be of more importance for iOS 15 than for iOS 14 is if Apple plans to massively increase “always on” background processing in such a central function that without it, iOS 15 wouldn’t just be itself, where without low power cores battery life would be intolerably short.
Otherwise, I would have expected the next device culling to coincide with the requirement for neural processing, i.e. maybe iOS 16 only for A11 and later.
Similarly, the A11 is the first CPU with an Apple-designed GPU, which would make it another reason for a natural next-generation cut-off.
So I hope Apple keeps supporting these A9 devices, which are otherwise modern in terms of mass storage controller, etc. until A11 is the base requirement for reasons listed above.