Apple iPhone 12 has iOS 16. But not all iPhones do.
David Phelan
Update from June 8 below. This publication was first published on June 6, 2022.
Apple today announced the next iPhone operating software. Not surprisingly, it’s called iOS 16. Surprisingly, it will run on fewer iPhones than many had predicted.
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The current software, iOS 15, is compatible with all iPhones from the iPhone 6s. Interestingly, this is exactly the same group of phones that ran on iOS 14 and even iOS 15. In other words, Apple hasn’t dropped any iPhones for three years.
June 8 update. This feeling of disappointment for iPhone users excluded from iOS 16 seems to apply, in a specific way, also to millions of Apple users, it is now seen.
When Apple launches new software, its new features are designed to be so irresistible that you just have to have them. Hence the importance of iPhone compatibility. But while some of the new features, such as great-looking lock screen enhancements, seem to need the extra power that newer iPhones have, others like Apple Pay Later sound like they should be available for any Apple Pay compatible iPhone.
This time there are so many new features that I imagine many customers will feel that now is the time to upgrade their hardware to make sure they don’t get lost. And devices that can’t get the latest update aren’t just limited to the iPhone. The Apple Watch Series 3 won’t work with watchOS 9, for example, which leads me to believe that this current entry-level Watch could be removed later this year. Similarly, Apple has also revealed which iPads will no longer be supported this fall when the new software arrives. And when the iPad 16 landed, iPad users were expecting a very sharp bite, which continues with the issue of possible disappointment for Apple customers.
We already knew the list of supported devices after the presentation. They are iPad 5th generation onwards, iPad mini, also 5th generation and later models, iPad Air from 3rd generation and all iPad Pro models.
Fair enough. Unless the most interesting feature for the iPad is possibly the introduction of Stage Manager, an innovative multitasking system that could revolutionize the way you use the iPad, especially when paired with a keyboard.
And this is not available for all iPads for which iPadOS 16 is compatible.
Well, maybe it’s not so amazing that you need to have iPad Air and iPad Pro to get Stage Manager. After all, the iPad mini doesn’t fit very well with a keyboard.
So while many were expecting iOS 16 not to work with the oldest of these phones, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, both launched in September 2015, there are three other iPhones that are no longer available. they will update to the latest software.
First of all, this is the iPhone SE (first generation) announced on March 20, 2016, which is over six years old, so it may not be a complete revelation.
But he also sees that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, as of September 2016, are also losing support. In total, millions of people still use these phones and will not be able to upgrade to iOS 16 with its new lock screen and a host of other new features.
We put this in context. This means that all iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus iPhones, released in September 2017 and later, will work with the new operating system. At the time of publication, these are the phones that were first launched five years ago. Few Android phones offer this update time in terms of software.
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And here is a balance. If you want to add a lot of powerful upgraded features, you need a processor power level. On the other hand, if you want full, long-term support, you need to limit upgrades to work with older processors.
The fact that so many phones have been left out this time is a clear indication that the updates need more power and are therefore probably quite advanced.
Of course, as you know, all these previous iPhones don’t stop working. They continue exactly as they do today. They just can’t get the attractive updates they just announced.
And some of these updates are so exciting that they may be enough to tickle some users into buying a new iPhone.