- A new report claims iOS 15 won’t support the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE (1st generation), iPad (5th generation), iPad mini 4, or iPad Air 2.
- iOS 14 supported all of the same devices as iOS 13, but reports suggest that iOS 15 will no longer offer support to any devices with A9 chips or earlier.
- Apple might occasionally update iOS 14 in the future to keep unsupported devices secure.
Apple does as good a job as any smartphone maker when it comes to supporting its devices years post-launch, but it can’t support every iPhone in perpetuity. Therefore, each new iOS release typically ends support for at least one older iPhone model, and it looks like two might be on the chopping block in 2021.
This week, French site iPhoneSoft reported that a developer at Apple shared the list of devices that will be supported by the iOS 15 beta when it arrives next June at WWDC 2021. If the information iPhoneSoft received is correct, Apple will be dropping support for every device that uses an A9 chip or earlier, which includes the iPhone 6s. Although the iPhone 6s is over six years old, it’s still one of the best-selling devices on resale markets.
According to iPhoneSoft, these are the iPhones and iPads that iOS 15 won’t support when it launches this fall:
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone SE (1st generation)
- iPad (5th generation)
- iPad mini 4
- iPad Air 2
Meanwhile, these are all of the iPhones and iPads that will be able to run iOS 15 when it arrives later this year:
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone SE (2nd generation)
- iPod touch (7th generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st generation)
- iPad Pro 10.5-inch
- iPad Pro 9.7-inch
- iPad (7th generation)
- iPad (6th generation)
- iPad mini (5th generation)
- iPad Air (3rd generation)
Notably, despite all of the additions and improvements, iOS 14 supported all of the same devices as iOS 13, extending the life of several aging devices by at least another year. Given the list above is accurate, the same won’t be true for the next big update, as two of the most popular old iPhone models join their predecessors as Apple’s smartphone lineup continues to grow. That said, just because the iPhone 6s and iPhone SE won’t be able to run iOS 15 doesn’t mean they’ll never receive another update. Just days ago, Apple rolled out iOS 12.5.1 to bring COVID-19 Exposure Notifications to the iPhone 6, iPhone 5s, and a few old iPad models. The 6s and SE will likely receive similar treatment.
