Wesley Hilliard
A new rumor suggests Apple will cut support for three iPhone models in iOS 19, which contradicts a previous rumor.
Apple has a lot of iPhone models available in the world, and many of them still get regular OS or security updates. A rumor shared in December suggested Apple wouldn't change its compatibility list for iOS 19, but that may not be the case.
A new rumor claiming the compatible models would change with iOS 19 was posted on a private social media account and reported on first by 9to5Mac. The models being dropped in iOS 19 are rumored to be iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR.
The same leaker said the seventh-generation iPad would not be compatible with iPadOS 19. This was also shared in the original compatibility leak.
The following device families will be compatible with iOS 19 if the rumor is accurate.
The following iPad generations are rumored to be supported for iPadOS 19.
- iPad mini 5 and up
- iPad 8 and up
- iPad Air 3 and up
- All 11-inch iPad Pro models
- 12.9-inch iPad Pro third-generation and up
The anonymous leaker has been accurate in the past, so this rumor is rated as likely. However, there is one oddity with the rumor.
The three iPhones being dropped run the A12 Bionic, but many of the base iPads that are rumored to run iPadOS 19 have A12 Bionic as well. It isn't clear why Apple would dump support for iPhones with A12 but not iPads with A12 in the same release — especially since iOS and iPadOS are very similar.
Apple could be choosing those iPhones based on specific specs unrelated to the chipset itself. That, or a feature coming in iOS 19 but not iPadOS 19 has a cutoff of A13 in iPhone.
Apple is expected to announce iOS 19 and iPadOS 19 during WWDC 2025 on June 9. The updates will be released to the public in September after the summer beta period.
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5 Comments
I guess I'm one of the few still on an XS Max. Still has the original battery too which gets me through the day. I'm not one to upgrade just for access to the latest OS but I have been thinking about upgrading for access the the satellite texting as I do a fair amount of backpacking in areas with no cell signal. Hmmmmm....
I’m still using an XS Max with original battery health at 92%. Performance has been fine although I would like an improved camera. We’ll see if 2025 is the year to update, to either a 16 or 17 Pro Max TBD.
My time is coming 11 Pro iPhone probably next year still works great.
This is a very bizarre rumor, one that I find rather implausible.
As mentioned in the article, these three iPhones and the iPad mini 5th generation share the same A12 Bionic SoC. However the iPad mini 5th generation has only 3 GB RAM whereas the iPhone XS has 4 GB. (The iPhone XR also has 3 GB RAM.)
It makes no sense how an iPad with 25% less RAM will run iOS 19 adequately and the better appointed phone cannot.