Apple's Recent iOS Update Required An Emergency Fix For Some iPhone Users

With the announcement of the second-generation AirTag 2, Apple released iOS 26.2.1 to add compatibility to this item tracker, but it also released several other smaller updates to older iPhone models, including iOS 12.5.8 for iPhone 5S and 6 devices; other software versions include iOS 15.8.6, iOS 18.7.4, and iOS 16.7.13. However, a day after all these updates became available, the company pulled most of them out (all except iOS 26.2.1) as it was working with Australia telecommunications company Telstra to investigate an issue that was preventing older iPhones from connecting to its network.

A couple of days later, Telstra released a carrier firmware update through older iPhone models to patch an issue where users couldn't use a 4G connection, make calls, or send text messages. According to Telstra, Australian users with this issue could connect their iPhone models to Wi-Fi, go to Settings, General, and About, and accept the carrier settings update which solves this bug.

After that issue was resolved, Apple once again started to offer iOS 12.5.8, iOS 15.8.6, and iOS 18.7.4 to iPhone users. Besides that, the company released iOS 16.7.14 to address the problem with the previous version, which fixes once and for all the bug with the Australian carrier.

Unlike Samsung and other Android manufacturers, Apple doesn't have an official support page saying for how long it will offer updates to its products. However, a document sent to U.K. authorities in 2024 had the company saying it would offer security updates to its devices for a "minimum five years from the first supply date." However, the iPhone 5S was released 13 years ago and yet still appears to be getting intermittent updates.

While one could say that's what makes Apple unique, the main reason why the company released iOS 12.5.8 was to extend the security certificate to ensure iMessage, FaceTime, and device activation will continue to work after January 2027.

Even though it's interesting to see Apple still offering basic functionality to a device as old as the iPhone 5S, it's still practically unusable as most apps require higher minimum software or hardware specs. Even using Safari can be tricky, depending on the website. That said, owners of these devices can at least send iMessage texts and make FaceTime calls, so the minor update means they won't be completely useless.