Before Android vendors like Samsung and Google started promoting seven years of software updates for the latest Android handsets, only Apple used to deliver that sort of prolonged support. While Apple never committed to a fixed number of updates, the iPhone would routinely get at least some five releases on top of the software it launched with.
But Apple also has to routinely remove older iPhones from the list of supported devices, as new requirements for upcoming iOS releases might be impossible to meet by those older devices.
iOS 19, set to be unveiled at WWDC 2025 in a few months, will supposedly remove support from the three oldest iPhone models that can still run iOS 18. That contradicts a report that said all iOS 18 phones will also run iOS 19 this fall.
The three iPhones that will stay on iOS 18 rather than upgrading to iOS 19 are the models Apple launched in 2018: iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max. Despite the somewhat stranger name choice, the three phones are part of the same generation. They succeeded the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.
Apple will only announce iOS 19 and iPadOS 19 compatibility information at WWDC 2025. However, a mysterious source who posts accurate information on X claims the three phones will not get the iOS 19 update. According to 9to5Mac the “private and anonymous account” shares accurate information about Apple software. They’ve previously leaked unreleased Apple software, including iOS 18 compatibility details.
If the information is accurate, only the following iPhones will run iOS 19 this year:
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 12 and 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 13 and 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 14 and 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 15 and 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 16e
- iPhone 16 and 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2nd gen)
- iPhone SE (3rd gen)
For the latest software update, you’ll need an iPhone made in 2019 or later. As for the iPhone users owning one of the models in the list above, they’ll be able to try iOS 19 without buying a new handset.
However, the same 2019 requirement doesn’t apply to iPads, apparently. The 2019 7th-gen iPad, rocking the A10 Fusion chip, will not be upgradeable to iPadOS 19 this fall, according to the same mysterious source who provided information about iOS 19 compatibility.
Then again, the A10 Fusion is the chip that powered the iPhone 7 series, and those models do not support iOS 19. They stopped getting new releases after iOS 15.
Whether the report is accurate or not, I’ll also point out that all iPhones that don’t have at least 8GB of RAM, like the iPhone 15 Pros, the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 17, will not get Apple Intelligence features, even if they support iOS 19 or not. Then again, Apple Intelligence isn’t too hot right now, and Apple has a lot of work ahead to catch up to rivals.
Also, regardless of whether they get iOS 19 this year, the older models mentioned in the report will still receive security upgrades in the future.
That said, iOS 19 will introduce a massive redesign that won’t be available to those old iPhone and iPad models that will remain stuck on iOS 18.
As for release windows, Apple will unveil iOS 19 at WWDC in June and make the first developer beta available to users after the event. The first stable version of iOS 19 will arrive in mid-September, after the iPhone 17 launch window.
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